Steele's lie
by CaptainROFL737
Summary: Kodi has found Aleu after not seeing her for years. Though he is out far, he's not with his team. Aleu is separated from her pack, but doesn't want to go back once she found her brother. They greet and love on each other, but Steele takes it the wrong way.
1. Intro

Kodi was wondering through the forest a distance away from Nome. He never really got to discover outside of Nome at his own pace. Being out by himself was really nice, because he got to discover things he never noticed while he was just running right by them.

Aleu set out with a few wolves a few nights ago, but she lost them. She wandered and looked in so many different places, but she couldn't find the wolves she set out with or her pack. Eventually, she just started wandering aimlessly just hoping to find some safety.

Steele, to this day, never got his respect back and is STILL seeking revenge. He's been waiting for the time to strike. Though it's been damn near 4 years, he hasn't found the right time to get back at Balto. But what if… just maybe… his kids could take the blame for it?

It would be such an evil stunt. More evil than trying to kill Balto to keep his reputation, letting potentially the whole town die of Diphtheria. Balto would suffer worse than just simply dying or becoming an outcast again.

Kodi came upon a chunk of metal sticking out of the ground. He gripped it with his teeth thinking it was something cool. He pulled it up. It wasn't cool. It wasn't even metal, it was just glass.

"Oh God! It smells terrible! There's some rotten water in there!"

He was getting hungry. This water wasn't normal water. He sniffed it again.

"It smells like that liquid some of the grown humans like to drink sometimes…"

Kodi's stomach growled again.

"I'll take my chances."

He tilted the bottle back and drank it. It didn't taste that bad. He let out a burp from the carbonation. He then felt light headed.

"Ah! What's happening!?"

Now the world started spinning around him. He fell to the ground. He started laughing. Ground… what a funny word.

"What's gotten into me?"

He heard a dog scrambling through the trees.

"Hey! Whoever that is, you're cool!"

"Hey Kodi!" a black dog said coming out of the trees.

"How do you know my name? Why are you swirling around weirdly? Or is that my vision?"

"I heard you're one of Balto's kids!"

Kodi started laughing, "My dad has a funny name!"

"Go home, Kodi! You'll get hurt out here! You're lucky I'm giving you advice! Now go through those trees, and you'll be on your way!" Steele

said trying to lead him to a trap.

"Nah, I'm just gonna sleep! 'Night!"

Steele growled. Though he could pick Kodi up and carry him, but his back still hurt from a fall last month. Hell, his back still hurt from the fall

almost 4 years ago.

"Come on, Kodi, don't get mauled by a bear!"

"Heh, bear! Football is funny! The Chicago Bears!"

The Chicago Bears brought back memories from the newspapers. The humans would talk about stuff, teams like the Bears and Packers. It

brought back memories. He started to rage.

"GET UP RIGHT NOW!"

"Hey, what's wrong with football?" Kodi asked obeying Steele's orders.

The weird mode he was in was gradually wearing off, but he still couldn't process anything going on.

"Well, nice talking to you, I gotta find my grandson before he gets attacked by a group of house cats," Kodi said.

"Hey! This isn't the last of me!" Steele yelled.

"There's more than one of you!?"

Kodi tripped and stumbled down a hill. A small rock pierced into his arm. Little did he know that until this weird mode faded more. His thinking

was kicking back in.

"Oww! How did this stab my arm?"

He pulled the sharp part out and set it down.

"I fell a large distance. Who was that guy? What was wrong with me?"

He shook and started walking again. He heard a howl off in the distance.

"Great! I just encountered a wolf it seems! Lucky me, he didn't kill me!"

Kodi heard the howl get closer.

"Now is probably a good time to start heading home…" Kodi said as he bolted off.

He went through multiple trees and then realized something. He was lost. He ran at redline. He was in a dead sprint in panic not even

knowing he was going in circles. Eventually he ran into a tree and fell to the ground.

Aleu picked up a familiar scent. A monster! An idiot! A scumbag! It was him! Her father's worst enemy! She wanted to go in and attack, but

she wasn't young and dumb anymore, she knew to keep her distance! She needed someone else to take him on. Where was her damn pack

when she needed them?

She howled again trying to draw Steele to her. It wasn't working though. She gave up and started walking again.


	2. Reunited

Kodi regained consciousness.

"Wow, I'm a genius aren't I?" Kodi said.

He's been a sled dog for a year and a half now, but this is the first time he's ever ran into a fricken tree. He got back onto his paws to hear some rumbling in the leaves. His ears perked up and he kept a solid stance. Keeping frozen, he heard the object move closer to him.

"Nope!" Kodi yelled as he went for a dead sprint.

Aleu heard a voice yell that feet away from her. Who was there!? Was it a fighter or a runner? Last thing she needed was a fight. She did need to open herself up, however. She hadn't gone for a run for a few days now. She looked over at the red blur, then chased it down.

"It's a fox! Those pests are all the same!"

She bolted after the red blur and eventually was on his tail. It was a male husky. It wasn't even a fox. She couldn't even keep up with him. He has a familiar scent. Wait a minute… she dug her paws into the ground to stop herself.

Kodi could sense his pursuer had given up. Never try to chase a sled dog! He'll outrun you any day! Now he should taunt his pursuer! He took a quick circle, then passed the grayish-brown wolf dog.

"HEY!" Aleu yelled.

Kodi got her scent. He came to a stop. That scent… why was it… could it be!? Kodi turned around and slowly made his way towards her. It was her! His lost sister!

"Kodi!"

"Aleu!?"

They inched closer to each other. They were reunited! They found each other!

"Is that you, Kodi?"

"This is too good to be true! I…"

They both formed a huge smile on their faces and let tears drop. They ran to each other and nudged each other.

"I missed you, Aleu!"

"I missed you too, Kodi! It's so great to see you!"

They cried their tears of joy into each other's shoulders. Thinking they wouldn't see each other again, here they are two years later.

"Where's the rest of your pack?"

"That's… I don't know. I lost them."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that!"

"It's fine. How's papa?"

"He's great! So is mom!"

"What about good old Dingo?"

"He and I are butts to each other. That's how close we are."

"Saba?"

"She's not really the nicest of dogs. She's gotten stuck up the rich family that adopted her."

Alue couldn't believe her favorite brother was right in front of her. She didn't care about Dingo or Yukon as much as she did Kodi.

"Nunivat was the other sister's name, right?"

"Yup. She's living hell right now. You know how you didn't ever get a human? Well she got one, but he walked away from her."

"What's it like having a human?"

"The other four have pups. I'm the only one with a grown human. You'd get different answers from…"

She nuzzled on him. She couldn't be happier to be back home! She didn't want to go back to her pack! Her mate can take care of the pack. Somehow she wasn't pregnant. How though? They tried probably 3 times.

"Take me home, Kodi!"

"Will do, Aleu! Will do!"

"Tomorrow, though! I'm tired."

"Quite honestly, I was unconscious, so I g…"

She knocked him onto the ground. She held onto him tight! She wasn't going to let go and lose him again.

"Awkward…" Kodi said to himself.

He wrapped his arms around her. She rested her head onto his chest and neck. He covered her head with his.

Like old times! It seemed like just yesterday when they were cuddled up next to their mother with their other brothers and sisters. They were coming upon three years old now. For two years, they haven't seen each other. For two years, they have been cuddled up with others at night. Aleu with her mate, and Kodi with Kirby, Dusty, and Ralph.

"I love you, Kodi!"

"I love you too, Aleu!"

They both drifted to sleep.


	3. Too Good Not to Go Wrong

Aleu woke up in Kodi's arms. She still couldn't believe it! She was reunited with her brother, and about to see her family again. Kodi woke up thinking he was gripped onto Dusty.

"Sorry Dusty! Not trying to make it awkward!" he said.

"Dusty?" Aleu asked.

"Your voice is awfully high…"

Kodi looked over to see his sister there.

"Aleu! I forgot! Wait, it wasn't a dream?"

"It was reality, Kodi!"

Kodi's face brightened up.

"I thought it was too good to be true! As I woke up, I damn near broke out."

"Who's Dusty? A girlfriend?"

"No, she's just a friend."

"A 'friend'?"

"Aleu, you might need to know this… I… I'm not looking for girls."

"I thought it was Yukon that planned on staying single."

"No, I don't plan on staying single."

Kodi couldn't keep eye contact with Aleu.

"Aleu, I'm gay."

Aleu drifted into laughter. What did Kodi say? He couldn't be serious! Funny like she remembered.

"I always loved you for your humor!"

"I'm not joking! I am! I have a crush on a guy on my team… he doesn't know… but…"

Aleu still couldn't laughing. Even if he was serious, why was this so funny?

"Kodi, I love you no matter what!"

"I'm afraid to tell dad, I don't think he agrees!"

"Well, why don't you tell him while he's speechless when I come home?"

"Might as well, I…"

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Some brother and sister fun?" a black and white malamute came in to sight.

""Steele!"" Kodi and Aleu yelled in unison.

"That's me! How 'bout that guy Balto? Sure is a bit of a scumbag!"

"That's my dad you're talking about!" Aleu growled, "You better not say another word about him!"

"Your numb-skull father!?"

"THAT'S IT!"

Kodi held Aleu back before she did anything stupid.

"Keep her in line, Kodi! Keep the sister you mated to behind!"

Kodi's face got red in anger.

"What? You don't like your face to be white? You want it red like the rest of your body?" Steele taunted.

Kodi managed to hold himself back. He didn't need this dog to tell Nome that he did something he didn't do.

Who comes up with that!? Who tries to falsely accuse a brother and sister of mating!? He has NO proof! But then again, he's still insane. He lied to Nome for years, he can find a way to lie to them again.

"Oh you homo," Steele said.

The red on Kodi's face turned from anger to embarrassment. He can't deny being gay to Nome, because then he'd be the liar.

"If you don't want Nome to know about you two mating, although you didn't, I suggest becoming my personal slaves. Let's not forget about Kodi being gay!"

"You have no proof!" Aleu shouted.

"No? I've been a professional liar for years! Although I'm outcast, I'll lie my way in there! I will be able to describe the way you two were cuddling! Didn't look like brother and sister to me!"

Aleu and Kodi looked at each other.

"What kind of slavery are we talking about?" Kodi asked.

"Treated like property, not well fed, meets my needs, wants, and desires, put through hard work!"

"How long?"

"I get to decide! It could be a life sentence, could be a day!"

"What kind of work are we talking about?"

"Kodi, stop negotiating!" Aleu demanded.

Kodi put his paw up, "I got this!"

"Well, you'll be hunting my food! You'll clean up the cave I live in. You're going to massage my back! Your father did that to me! I fell off of a cliff! HE MADE ME FALL! NOW HE PASSED THE PUNISHMENT TO HIS KIDS!" Steele roared.

That definitely got Kodi and Aleu scared.

"If I get to that point, you might even be my mating slaves!"

Those two words pierced Kodi's ears like a butcher knife. What a disturbing term! Terrible!

"So, what is it?" Steele asked.

"Excuse us!" Aleu said.

Kodi and Aleu went to talk.

"What the hell are you doing negotiating with him!?"

"It wasn't negotiating, it was questioning. I wanted to see how we'd get treated, if it was worth not going home for a long time! You know what? There's two of us and one of him! Let's just kill him!"

"Oh… I really didn't think about that."

The two turned and faced Steele.

"We've made our decision!" Aleu said.

"What's that?"

They both jumped out and attacked him. They went to reach for his throat.

"Boys!" Steele yelled.

Circled around them was Star, Nikki, and Kaltag.

"Even if you kill me, you'll still get killed by them, then they'll go to Nome and tell them about you two mating. Unlike me, they're not outcasts."

"Youse ain't going nowhere!" Nikki said.

"You aren't going anywhere!" Aleu corrected, "Lardball!"

"So, what's your decision now?" Steele asked.

"Excuse us," Kodi said.

They talked to each other again.

"What now!?" Aleu panicked.

"Become a slave to a rotten person or have your reputation ruined right when you come home?"

"I… I don't want you to suffer Kodi. Nome had been your home for years. This monster shouldn't take it away from you! If we end up being used as mating slaves…"

"DON'T SAY THAT!" Kodi snapped, "I'm sorry, those words just pierce my ear drum."

"Mating slave!"

Kodi had death wish right now. He didn't believe in suicide, maybe he should just attack Steele and get killed. But what would that do for Aleu? Nothing!

"Let's just decline!" Aleu said.

"No, I don't want to be kicked off my team, known as the guy who mated with his own sister, then rejected by dad for being gay!"

"We can go out and find my pack!"

"I'm a civilized dog! I may be a quarter wolf, but I don't have the wild in me!"

"Well, do you want to be used as a… a slave?"

"It can't be that bad!"

"Well, I say we're going home! So what if we have a bad reputation? They're not going to kick us out!"

"Once the whole town thinks we've mated, I'm not talking to you again!" Kodi said fed up.

He let Steele hear that. He hoped Steele heard that.

"What!? Kodi, we just reunited!"

"That's no good if we're trapped and known to be mates!"

Aleu sighed. She didn't want to think it, but she knows it's true. She came back to Kodi's side.

"We're better as slaves and live in peace than free and live in hell!"

Kodi was relieved to have Aleu agree with him.

"Alright, Steele. We'll do what you want!"

"Good choice! Do what you want with her boys! He's all mine!" Steele said.

"Hold up, what!?" Kodi panicked.


	4. Enslaved

Steele pulled Kodi by his collar.

"Lucky me, you already have a collar on you!"

Kodi heard Aleu cry out. He looked back to see the three dogs pull her in. What are they doing!?

"What are they going to do to her!?" Kodi questioned.

"Whatever they want. She's their slave. You're mine!"

"What are you going to do to me?"

"I haven't fully decided. Lucky for me, I'm able to keep you tied up! I'm sure they are going to keep her up all night. The three of them will be on different shifts making sure she doesn't escape and work her."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY WORK HER!?" Kodi roared.

Steele shrugged, "I don't know. What ever they want."

Steele wasn't intimidated one bit by Kodi's roar. Steele was about to unravel the anger that's only reached the surface of Kodi one or two other times throughout his entire life. Steele threw Kodi into an enclosed area.

"What are you going to make me do!?" Kodi interrogated.

"You do nothing. Let's just say I hope you stay on your paws well. This'll only hurt for a minute."

Aleu heard Kodi's yelp. She started crying tears of sorrow now. Steele had burned and scratched his symbol into Kodi's body.

"You won't get away with this!" Kodi said.

"I will! 'Cause if I ever do let you go, and you tell everyone about me, I'll lie my way in, then bring it all down on you!"

Aleu was waiting for her first element of torture.

"What should wes do, dere?" Nikki asked.

"There's all sorts of stuff! She can get our food, give us pleasure, help us sleep, make us…" Kaltag ranted.

"She'll be great for us!" Star interrupted.

Kaltag hit Star on the head.

"What are you guys going to do me?" Aleu asked.

"We're hungry," Kaltag said.

Aleu growled.

"Go get us something to eat, and bring it back!"

Aleu went hunting to look for food for her slave owners. Kodi looked at his burn scar.

"Good news and bad news. Good news, your fur will grow back normally. Bad news, I gotta burn you twice a year!"

"I hate you already!"

"You do know this is all a big prank right?"

Kodi felt immediate relief and excitement.

"Wait, really?"

"Your dad is involved in it, and everything! Do you know how excited he is that his daughter is back?"

"Wow! You got me good! Damn!"

"This is actually a benefit to all of us! Your sister gets to come home, your dad gets his daughter back, and I get my reputation back! Guess who else was involved?"

"Who!?"

"Kirby! He knows you like him! Guess what? He likes you back!"

"No way! Yes! Hey, sorry about what I said!"

"Man, I feel bad. I got your hopes up!"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm such a butt! This isn't a prank! It's real! You're my slave, your sister is enslaved by three guys, do you think your dad would allow a prank like that!? And by me? He wouldn't even approve of you and Kirby!"

Kodi's face dropped. Oh, would he love to kill this malamute!

"I HATE YOU!"

Kodi went to run, but not only would Steele go and make his reputation at Nome hell, but he was physically trapped now. He can't take on Steele by himself, and Aleu can't take three dogs down at once. Steele threw Kodi onto his back and got on top of him. Steele's rancid breath was flowing right into Kodi's nostrils.

"You are my slave now! You can't escape, because I'll kill you. And if you do manage to get to Nome, you'll want to leave! Leaving would be a bad idea with me around!"

Kodi immediately felt regret and homesickness. Now he wished ill-will upon his sister!

It's her fault! She's why I got into this mess! She pulled me in to cuddle with me last night! I hope those three dogs get the best of her! I hope she suffers! Kodi yelled in his head, Wait! What am I thinking!? It's not remotely close to her fault! This faggot shouldn't be alive, he's the reason this is happening! It's more of my fault than hers!

"I hope your tail gets pulled on by a monkey!" Kodi yelled to Steele.

That really was all Kodi could get out. He was so angry and had this war inside his head.

Aleu was grooming Kaltag while he was eating a rabbit she caught. He forgot what it was like to be groomed by another dog. It was way different from how a human groomed him, but it was better! Aleu pulled on the notches on Kaltag's ear.

"Ah! Watch it!"

"Sorry!"

Aleu did this all the time to her mate, it was nothing new. This really wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. It was just like being at the bottom of the pack.

"My turn!" Star said.

"Back off!" Kaltag growled.

"I'm almost done," Aleu said calmly, "I'll get you next!"

"Youse forgot about me!" Nikki said.

"You're after Star!"

Nikki shoved Aleu.

"It's my turn!"

"I'm going to finish Kaltag!"

"Piss off, Nikki!" Kaltag defended.

Nikki pulled Aleu back. She brought him down. Meanwhile, Steele made Kodi decide on either being used to cuddle with Steele for the night or skipping dinner.

"I'll let you decide," Steele said as he left the cave.

He saw Aleu on top of Nikki. She looked like she was about to kill him! Steele went for a dead sprint and body slammed her to the ground. Kodi watched it all go down.

"Don't you dare fight! They might not be willing to kill you, but next time you pull a stunt like that, don't expect to be able to fully function!"

Steele pulled out a large stick and dragged her by her neck.

"Do yourself a favor and keep count!"

He started lashing her. Kodi couldn't take it! He was against suicide tactics, but he didn't want to get killed by these monsters! He had to keep Aleu in mind. If that was Yukon, he'd be able to flee, and trust Yukon to kill whoever was guarding him, then take out the rest in their sleep. The most annoying thing about growing up with Yukon was that he could never take him down. At times like these, he admired that.

Kodi closed his eyes and sealed his ears. He couldn't watch or hear her suffer! Aleu couldn't keep count. Countless lashes later, Aleu was dragged back to Star, Nikki, and Kaltag. Thankfully the stick wasn't sharp, nor did it have much velocity when swung. She still couldn't stop her bleeding. Steele walked into the cave.

"Don't make her mistake!" he warned.

"Was that necessary?"

Steele paused.

"Are you trying to challenge my authority!?"

"Never mind! Sorry!"

Steele threw the stick as hard as he could at Kodi. It pierced the top of Kodi's muzzle.

"I have a mail run tomorrow. What am I supposed to do?"

"That's for them to figure out. Oh what will your lover do without you?"

"He's not my lover! How the hell do you know which one I like?"

"You don't think I stalk you!? I've been waiting for advantage like this since before you were born!"

Kodi started to get intimidated. Steele has seen everything he's done? He's done so many things he wasn't proud of! What about that time he… Kodi prayed Steele didn't see that.

"What about that time when Kirby was sleeping? I'm gonna go straight up to Kirby and tell him what you did!"

Well, he knows!

"Please! Don't! I'd rather the town think Aleu and I are mates!"

"Then don't try to escape! Your choice, me use you as something to cuddle with or skip dinner?"

"Skip dinner! I don't want you to touch me!"

"Shame!"

Steele pulled out some fresh meat. He tore it apart and started eating right in front of Kodi.

"Oh! This is so good!"

Kodi put his head on his paws and looked away. Steele grabbed Kodi's muzzle and aimed his eyes right on the meat.

"You gotta watch me!"

Steele chomped down on the meat. A piece dropped on Kodi's nose. He was about to bring it into his mouth when Steele snatched it right off. Star, Nikki, and Kaltag stood there watching Aleu bleed. What now? They might as well help her.

Steele was done with his food. He laid down to go to sleep.

"One more thing Kodi! If I wake up in the morning, and I have your scent on me from any part of the night, I will lash you!"

Kodi backed away more.

"Am I allowed to visit my sister? It looks like Kaltag is still awake."

"Tomorrow you might have that privilege depending on your behavior and work. Come here. I won't hurt you, I'm too lazy to get up."

Kodi approached Steele. Steele grabbed his collar and attached a tether line to it.

"Now get some sleep. Or stay up. Just don't wake me up."

"Alright. Goodnight."

"You know what? Disregard what I said about not touching me tonight. If you do get cold, you can cuddle up next to me."

"Really? Thanks!"

"I'll probably still hog the blanket."

Kodi and Steele talked a little bit. Star and Nikki were cuddled up with Aleu. Kaltag was on his back keeping watch in case either of the slaves tried to escape. He hoped she'd willingly go with him overtime. It'd be a while. He felt bad enslaving her like this. Kodi might've got off on the wrong paw with Steele. Maybe he just woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Was he actually a nice dog?

"Hey Steele, you're actually pretty cool. I like you."

"I like you to, Kodi. Sorry about everything earlier."

"Well, you should apologize to Aleu."

"I will when I wake up. You know what?"

Steele tossed Kodi a piece of meat.

"You did earn it. Eat."

"Thanks!"

Kodi ate a meal he thought he had given up. He cuddled up next to Steele afterwards.

"Thanks, again."

"I should thank you. I was the one that enslaved you."

"Well, goodnight!"

"Goodnight, Kodi."

Steele nodded to Kaltag to signal permission to sleep. All 6 dogs were able to sleep.


	5. Where's Kodi?

Kodi woke up the next morning to being violently shoved by Steele.

"What's wrong, Steele?"

Steele kicked Kodi.

"Get up! Time to work! This isn't the nice warm boiler room!"

"Woah, are you ok?"

"I WILL BE WHEN YOU GET UP!" Steele roared.

Kodi got to his paws. Steele must be a scumbag by day and a lover by night. Or… was last night a one time thing?

"Star, Nikki, Kaltag, get up. Time to run the slaves."

Nikki woke up with Kaltag crushing him.

"Get off mes!"

"Shut up!"

Aleu woke up. Star had her trapped.

"Hey Star, can you let me go?"

"No thanks!"

Kaltag hit Star and got him to let go. Meanwhile, the sled team was getting ready to go.

"Where's Kodi?" Kirby asked.

"What do you mean? Is he not here?" Ralph worried.

"I talked to him two days ago. He seemed to be as happy as he normally is. I haven't talked to him since, though," Dusty said.

Mr. Simpson came in, "Alright, dogs! Let's get going! We're leaving early so we can be on time!"

The three dogs weren't very motivated. But then again, the never got motivated easily. Mr. Simpson looked around and didn't see Kodi.

"Where's Kodi? Kodi! Come here, boy!"

He inspected the boiler room. Where was he? Mr. Simpson now had to look around the rest of the town.

"KODI! COME HERE! TIME TO GO!" Mr. Simpson yelled.

He was nowhere to be found. The five other sled dogs helped out. Mr. Simpson gave up.

"Kodi, I love you, but if you keep this up, I gotta let you go," Mr. Simpson said to himself hoping Kodi would magically hear him.

Mr. Simpson went to the Post Office.

"Mr. Connor, I can't find Kodi. I need to borrow a dog."

"Kodi's gone? Let me see who's available."

Mr. Connor checked the chart of sled dogs.

"Next available dog is Kodi's brother."

"Where is Dingo again?"

"His owners should live right next to Paul's Diner."

Mr. Simpson headed to Dingo. He had to inform Dingo's boy that he'd be gone. The boy's dad answered.

"Hi sir, are you Dingo's owner?"

"That's me. What's up?"

"Dingo is the next available sled dog. Kodi's missing."

"Oh, well, let me tell Matt."

Dingo saw Mr. Simpson and got excited. Was he going for a run? Mr. Simpson pulled out a harness. Dingo went crazy. He bolted out the door and urged to get the harness on. Matt hugged Dingo.

"Stay safe! I love you, Dingo!"

Dingo licked his pup as a goodbye.

"I'm gonna get to race Kodi!"

He looked at the sled dogs. None of them were Kodi.

"Where's Kodi, guys?"

"We don't know. You're replacing him," Kirby said sadly.

"Wait, what? For how long?"

"We have no idea. He just disappeared," Ralph said.

Dingo started to get concerned. Balto came to farewell his son. The wrong son was in a harness.

"Dingo? W… Where's Kodi?"

"Apparently no one can find him."

"We looked everywhere. He's not in Nome," Dusty said.

"I gotta find him! Do you know of any motivation why he'd just run off!?"

Jenna knew something wasn't right.

"Where's Kodi?"

"That's what we're all trying to figure out," Dingo said.

"It's weird to see Dingo instead of Kodi," Mr. Simpson said.

He had a bad feeling he had to just deal with it. So much for leaving early as well.

"Hike!" he yelled.

Dingo didn't think about the resistance when he went to launch. It's been a while. The harness pulled him back. He fell to the ground as the other dogs started going. He just pulled a complete Star. He was twisted up in his harness with the line wrapped around his paw. What an embarrassment.

"Woah!" Mr. Simpson yelled.

Dingo fixed everything and they were off again. Balto howled out to his kids. Yukon, Nunivat, and Saba arrived.

"Have you seen Kodi?"

"I just saw him before he left town. He said he was gonna go for a day out in the wild. He even said he'd be back for his mail run," Nunivat said.

"Was he depressed?"

"He was acting like he got fourth place in a national dogsled championship."

"So he was happy?"

"Yeah."

Back at Steele's cave Kodi had another thing coming.

"You know your mom's friend Dixie? She's here."

"How many dogs turned on my family?"

"They didn't technically turn on you. Dixie just wants something out of you."

Dixie came into the room, "And into me!"

"God! Help me!"

Dixie shoved Kodi to the floor. Aleu could hear Kodi's yelps. Thankfully they weren't yelps of pain, but they were still cries for help.

"What is Steele doing to Kodi?" Kaltag asked.

"I'll check on him," Star said.

Star went up to see Dixie and Kodi while Steele was watching. They each looked at Star who was at the entrance.

"Awkward…" Star said.

He walked off wanting nothing to do with what he saw.

"Dixie is taking advantage of Kodi."

"Eww!" Kaltag said.

"I sure feels bad for Kodi, dere," Nikki said.

"Dixie is the most ugliest, the grossest, the shortest little…" Kaltag ranted.

"Kodi should take a long bath afterwards!" Star interrupted.

Kaltag went to hit Star, but Aleu blocked it.

"Stop hitting him!"

Star licked Aleu as a thank you.

Dingo may not have trained for a while, but he was still pulling the other lazy dogs on the team.

"Dingo! Slow down!" Kirby said.

"Wow! You guys are slow aren't you!?"

"We don't push ourselves anymore than we need to!" Dusty said.

"I already miss Kodi!" Ralph said.

"Now I know why you guys are always late!"

Kirby, Dusty, and Ralph already didn't like Dingo. If he was a permanent replacement, they only hoped he would calm down and be more like his brother. He slowed down so he wouldn't push the others too much and make them complain.

"If we're going to start running on time, we have to speed up! I want you guys to like me, but it'll be a love-hate relationship if you guys keep it up!" Dingo said.

"You're not replacing Kodi for good!"

"I hope not, but until then, I want to a strong bond with you guys! I'll be doing Kodi a favor by pushing you guys harder. He'll finally run at a faster pace and actually be on time!"

"Please don't push us the way your dad did!" Ralph pleaded.

"Kodi told me he pushed you guys as hard as you can go! I'm not going to do that, but Kodi is too nice and doesn't push you enough!"

"I'm the lead dog, here! You're not even the lead dog!" Kirby clarified, "We should go at MY pace!"

"YOUR pace always had you running behind!"

Kodi laid there on his back in disbelief as Dixie was still licking his face. That was against his will! He was used as a ma…

Don't you dare say it! Kodi thought to himself. I was used against my will, that's all!

"Good job Dixie!" Steele said, "My turn!"

"Oh God!" Kodi yelled, "No! No!"

Steele grabbed Dixie and laid down with her.

"Oh thank God!" Kodi said, "I thought… never mind."

Aleu was talking to Star while Kaltag and Nikki talked their plans through.

"What do wes do? Wes can't jus keep torturings her," Nikki said.

"I know! We need to help her! That beating Steele gave her was unnecessary! I hope Kodi isn't having too bad of a time!" Kaltag replied.

"Wes have to obeys him, dere. Youse knows he will kills us."

"We're idiots! We fell into his trap… AGAIN!"

"Kodi probably hates ours guts right about nows. He will not help us, dere."

"I'm not sure if Aleu can sense our mercy."

"Wes are showing her no mercy.

Balto had to find his lost pup! He only has five left! To lose another one would only leave him with three while Dingo is replacing Kodi.

"I saw him leave right around here," Nunivat said, "But I don't know how far he went."

"He could be anywhere. I really hope Dingo at least gets his scent!"

"What if… what if something happened to him? What if he got attacked, or lost? What if someone captured him?" Saba worried.

"If anyone hurts him, me and dad are going to rip ANYONE who touches him to shreds!" Yukon said.

"If he's gone… if someone killed him, I wouldn't be able to go out and kill them! I… I'd just be… lost," Balto said, "If any of you go, I'd be lost in sorrow."

Balto couldn't bear the thought of any of his pups dying. Watching Aleu happily heading on her own was hard enough. At least she was happy and alive. Balto sucked up those thoughts and anger flooded his mind.

"Who wants to go with me to look for him!?"

"I'll go," Nunivat said, "I have no one to go home to."

"Out there? No humans? No one to protect us? No…" Saba said.

"I have my girl to go home to. I can't leave her. Unless Kodi is confirmed KIA, I can't leave," Yukon said.

Yukon was the biggest and toughest of all 6 pups, but he was used a toy for his girl. Through the years of constant annoyingness, he loves her to death. He hates to say it, but he loves her more than he loves his mom and dad.

"Woah!" Mr. Simpson yelled.

The team came to a stop.

"Time for lunch!" Ralph said.

"Lunch? I just ate before we left!" Dingo said, "I can't run on a full stomach!"

Mr. Simpson let each dog roam free and eat. Dingo got a good whiff. Kodi? There was no way he was all the way out here!

"Is this a normal stopping place?" Dingo asked.

"Yeah, we always stop here for a rest," Kirby said.

"That's why I smell Kodi."

"Yeah, I got excited at first too, but it wasn't him."

"When was the last time you came through here?"

"The day before Kodi disappeared. Why?"

"It seems too recent! Doesn't his scent seem strong?"

Kirby sniffed the air, "Yeah, but… I don't know. I know his scent well, it seems about right."

"To be honest, Kirby, I probably know his scent better than you. Although you travel next to him, I grew up in the same litter. He's my closest sibling!"

"I don't doubt it."

Dingo thought for a minute, "Are you… gay by chance?"

Kirby exploded in laughter, "Why do you ask? Do I look good to you?"

"No, I'm just wondering, just wanting to know."

"More or less," Kirby admitted, "I go both ways."

Dingo knows Kodi had a crush on Kirby. Dingo is the only dog Kodi told about him being gay. He knew he could trust Dingo to not tell anyone else.


	6. Used and beat

**I didn't realize how long it was since I put my last chapter out. I'm probably going to put out chapters for this and the zombie apocalypse really slowly. I hate to say it. I also pumped my story rating up to T because of very slight sexual content. I'm not sure if it really needs a T, but to be on the safe side, I'm pumping it up.**

That night, Steele allowed Kodi and Aleu to comfort each other. Kodi had a bad feeling about Steele being nice during the night was a one time thing. Despite letting the two sleep together, he was still being a butt.

"Kodi, how long do you think this'll last?" Aleu worried.

"I have no idea. Steele's being a scumbag. I have a bad feeling this'll probably go on for a long time," Kodi said.

"I want my pack! Where are they when I need them!?"

"I feel the same way about my team! Who's running for me? How are they without me!? Who knows, maybe they have a dog faster than me, one that'll replace me. Hey, then I won't have to come back!" Kodi said trying to cheer himself up.

By saying that, he just forced tears out of his eyes.

"Kirby is better off with me not trying to ask him out anyway! I'm not interfering with Dusty and Ralph's relationship. I did have a crush on Dusty at one time!"

Aleu now comforted Kodi.

"Papa will find us! He knows you're gone by now! He'll search for us! Maybe our brothers and sisters will search too!"

"How will dad react to me being gay? Once we've cleared this rubble, I have that to worry about!"

"Papa loves you no matter what!"

Steele threw rock at Kodi and Aleu.

"Shut up before I have to silence you myself!"

Kodi and Aleu stopped talking out of fear. Eventually they drifted to a sleep. After a rest, Mr. Simpson and the dogs set out at night. This messed up Dingo's sleep. The dogs noticed he was tired and felt relief knowing he would push them like he was doing earlier.

"Hey Dingo, keep up!" Kirby said.

"Ironic you guys are telling ME to keep up!"

"You are running slow," Ralph said.

"I'm tired! What do you expect!?"

"I sing when I'm tired," Dusty said.

"Don't give him ideas!" Kirby said.

_"Straight outta Nome!_

_Crazy red wolf-dog named Dingo!_

_From a team called…"_

"Wow, I'm failing at this."

"DON'T SING!" Kirby yelled.

Dingo and the rest of the team made it to Elim, which is just a little bit further east than White Mountain. Meanwhile, Balto couldn't sleep with the thought that his son could be dead, or suffering right now. He couldn't stand that thought, but the worry stuck with him.

"Something is bothering you, what's wrong?" Boris asked.

"Kodi…"

"What's wrong with him?"

"I can't find him. I've looked all over."

"He and his team just left yesterday."

"That was Dingo with the team. Dingo had to replace Kodi because we can't find him."

"Uh oh. That's not good!"

"I'm worried something happened to him. If you could FLY for me, that'd be nice!"

"Balto, you know I hate heights!"

"I know, Boris, I know."

The next morning, Kodi woke up to being kicked by Steele.

"Get up! You should be waking US up!"

He kicked Aleu when Kodi finally opened his eyes. He nudged Star, Nikki, and Kaltag.

"We're trading today. You'll take Kodi, and I'll have Aleu."

"What are youse going to dos with her, dere?" Nikki asked.]

"Same things I did with Kodi, pretty much."

Kodi and Aleu checked on each other.

"How are those three treating you?" Kodi asked.

"Not as bad as I thought they would. They'll probably treat you a lot worse, though."

"Well, Steele treats me like crap! Will you be able to handle him?"

"He'll treat me better because I'm a female. If you can handle him, I'm sure I can."

Kodi went with the other three dogs while Aleu went with Kaltag.

I hope… Aleu thought.

"What do you three traitors want from me!?" Kodi demanded.

"Traitors?" Star asked.

Kodi got right in Star's face like a TI would get in a cadet's face in Basic Training.

"You were one of my dad's best friend for years! Now you work with Steele to use us as slaves! Is that not treason!?"

Kaltag hit Kodi like he would Star. Kodi went to kill Kaltag, but saw Steele watching him. He could take these three dogs out, but not Steele.

"Kodi, go get us some grass!" Kaltag said.

"Uh… that's weird, but ok."

Kodi went to dig up some grass. Aleu was cornered by Steele.

"What are you going to do with me?"

"Let's just say I'm not gay."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Guess why I swapped the slaves around for today? I need to take care of my needs."

"What can I do that Kodi can't?"

Steele was getting frustrated.

"You're not getting the hint, are you? Prepare to be boarded."

Aleu still wasn't getting this "hint" Steele wanted her to get. Steele pulled her tail up and put his chest onto her back.

"No! Why! Stop!" Aleu helplessly yelled.

Kodi was still digging grass up until Star, Nikki, and Kaltag were satisfied with the amount.

"Why do you want grass?"

"Why not? Grass is cool!" Star said.

"What are you going to use it for?"

"Just something eat, build stuff with, and just keep as a souvenir. Fun stuff," Kaltag said.

"Why… there's grass EVERYWHERE! Why not just wait until you need it!?"

"Wes want dis grass," Nikki said.

It was clear to Kodi that these three just wanted Kodi to work for the hell of it. He looked back to see if they were using him for the view. Thankfully he wasn't with homos. None of them were looking at him. Just the thought of them using him for that purpose made him straight.

"Kodi! Help m…" Aleu yelled.

Steele clamped her muzzle closed.

"Steele's u… using me!"

Kodi raged and went for a dead sprint for the cave Steele and Aleu were in. He ran in and tried to knock Steele of his sister. At this point, Aleu and Steele couldn't be separated.

"GET OFF HER! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Kodi yelled.

"Get him away from me!" Steele ordered.

Star, Nikki, and Kaltag pulled Kodi out of the cave and threw him onto the ground.

"You both are getting lashed after I'm done here!" Steele yelled.

Kodi finally walked away from the cave under his own power. Star, Nikki, and Kaltag still pushed him.

"I hate you guys so much! You don't realize it!"

"That's not nice!" Star said.

"Dude… just shut up! I don't want to hear your annoying voice!"

Star head butt Kodi. Of course that hurt Star a lot more than it hurt Kodi. Star damn near knocked himself out. Kodi sat down embarrassed, enraged, and depressed. Steele was going lash Aleu for something Kodi did!

"Do you guys even like Steele?"

"More or less," Kaltag said.

"Its's a love-hates relationship," Nikki said.

"What do you mean?"

"He lost all of our respect after the serum run," Kaltag said.

"Then why are you helping him?"

"Wes don't really want tos, dere," Nikki said, "Hes kind of forced us."

Kodi could sense the BS. They still had the evil in them! He knows they do!

"Lie as much as you want! I'm not going to believe you!"

Kodi sat just waiting for Steele to finish up and come out to whip him and Aleu. Poor Aleu. She was the only female and she'll be the only one to be used unless Star, Nikki, or Kaltag became so desperate that they'd use Kodi.

"Kodi, I'm sorry. We're sorry this happened!" Kaltag said.

"No you're not!"

Star, Nikki, and Kaltag had enough. Time to use him for real! Kaltag slammed him onto the ground.

"Now go get us something to eat!"

Kodi headed out into the forest. Damn! He never learned how to hunt, and now that he needs to, he can't. Oh well, it can't be that hard to catch a damn rabbit.

Steele got what he wanted, then got off of Aleu. He pulled out his stick and whipped Aleu.

"You'll pay a price for something your brother did! He'll get lashed twice as hard as I lashed you two days ago!"

"Please don't! You already got what you want out of me! Don't just helplessly beat him!"

He swatted her again.

"Don't tell me what to do!"

Kodi came back with three rabbits for Star, Nikki, and Kaltag. He also saw Steele standing there with the stick.

"How bad will it be?"

"Do you remember how bad it was for your sister?"

"Yeah?"

"About twice as bad."

Kodi's eyes widened as Steele swung for his head. Thanks to his quick reaction time, Kodi dodged the stick coming right at him.

"You stubborn scumbag! Hold him back, boys!"

Star, Nikki, and Kaltag held him in place as he was endlessly lashed.


	7. Searching for Kodi

Balto went to Jenna to tell her what his plan was. She was going with him! She wasn't going to just let Kodi go like she did with Aleu.

"Balto, I'm going with you!"

"What? No you're not!"

"Yes I am! When you left Aleu behind, I missed my chance for a final goodbye with her! I'm not doing the same with Kodi!"

"It's to dangerous I don't want…"

"BALTO! I'm going with you! I'm going to lose Kodi!"

Nunivat came to her parents, "I'm ready, dad!"

"Nunivat's going too!? There's no talking me out of this one!"

"Alright, but follow MY lead at ALL times! Don't do what I don't want you to do!"

"Balto, I can handle myself."

The three headed into town to search for Kodi to see if he really is just hiding around Nome. It was no use doing it. He would've made his presence obvious. Yukon came up to his parents and sister.

"Good luck finding Kodi. If you find him, tell him I wasn't able to join because of my girl. He'll understand."

"Will do, son!" Balto said.

Yukon nudged his father, "Be safe, dad! I love you!"

"I love you too, son! If none of us are back in five days, get Dingo and Kodi's team and search for us."

"I will. Good luck, Nuni! Stay safe and follow dad's orders!"

"Please don't call me that! It reminds me of Peyton," Nunivat said.

Peyton was her boy. He was bullied at school and abused by his family. He loved Nunivat to death, and Nunivat was the only one that loved him. One day he had enough and ran away. She's been miserable without him.

"Mom, I'm worried for you. You probably have the least bodily ability of the three of you."

"Yukon, don't you doubt me! You'd be surprised what I have left!"

Yukon nudged his mother, "I love you, mom!"

"I love you too, Yukon!"

The three headed out into the forest to search for their lost family member. To their hopes he is just fine. Scared, the three searched on and on.

_"Keep searchin'_

_Keep on searchiiiiin'_

_This search goes on_

_On and on._

_Frantic tic tic tic tic tic toc!_

_Frantic tic tic tic tic tic toc!" Nunivat sang._

This is 73 years before that song was made, it is a huge coincidence that Nunivat is singing it before it came out.

"KODI!" Jenna yelled, "CAN YOU HEAR ME!?"

"Kodi, your team is considering firing you! You might want to come back to Nome!" Nunivat yelled.

Sisters… they're all the same. Kodi couldn't hear a single thing his three family members looking for him were saying. He just laid there licking his lash wounds. They finally stopped bleeding when he woke up.

"Get up, mutt! I need you to get me some dinner!" Steele ordered.

Kodi had a hard time getting up, but he did. He went to go catch something for Steele. Kaltag tagged along to make sure he didn't run away. Balto, Jenna, and Nunivat eventually got tired and had to stop searching.

"We're not heading home," Jenna said, "We're staying out here until we find him!"

"Jenna, I'm not going to let you or Nunivat catch your deaths out here!"

"Too bad! We're staying!"

"Yeah, dad, I'm with mom," Nunivat said.

Balto wasn't going to let his wife and daughter die out in the wilderness! A good husband and father wouldn't take the risk either.

"We're going home! That's final! I brought you out here with the agreement that you'd follow my orders! That's what you're going to do! Now let's get going!" Balto said with a raised voice.

"At least just let us stay out here for a few days at a time. You told Yukon that if we're not back in 5 days to come and search for us! We'll head home in 4 days!" Jenna said.

"Come on, dad! Please?" Nunivat begged.

"Fine. 4 days, then we're heading home. I'm searching alone from there on out!" Balto said.

"Thank you, Balto!"

"Thanks, dad!"

Dingo and the team were heading back ahead of schedule. Thanks to Dingo motivating, well, pushing the dogs on the team. Mr. Simpson noticed that he was the one pushing everyone. Kirby hadn't changed one bit. Kodi hadn't done much for the team. It was obvious his respect for the team made him not want to push them. Kodi did speed up the team, but just not enough. Dingo hit the spot!

They stopped at to eat dinner and sleep for the night. Dingo caught Kodi's scent. He was here a little bit ago. He was just here! Mr. Simpson unclipped Dingo. Immediately, he followed his nose.

"Dingo, come here. I don't need to lose two of you," Mr. Simpson said.

Dingo reluctantly obeyed. After dinner, I'll catch him by surprise, Dingo thought. The wind was headed Kodi's direction. Kodi got his brother's scent.

"Dingo? He's close! He's nearby!"

With Dingo here, the two could take Steele down! The other three will be a cakewalk! Kodi willingly took the risk of howling for Dingo. He howled as loud as he could to get his brother to answer. Steele knew the threat. Immediately, he grabbed Kodi and cut off his oxygen.

"YOU'RE JUST BEGGING FOR TROUBLE AREN'T YOU!? NOW THAT YOU'RE ENSLAVED, THERE'S NO GOING HOME!" Steele raged.

Kodi was losing consciousness. He had to draw Dingo over! He can't afford to lose contact with Dingo! He…

Kodi lost consciousness. Steele threw him onto the ground and shoved him into a corner where he tied him up. Right then, he heard a reply howl fairly close.

"That's not good."

Dingo howled a return. The sled dogs stared him down like he was hitting himself on the head with a pan and laughing about it. Mr. Simpson was scared Dingo's wolf side might activate. It hasn't yet, but it still might. Dingo sat there anxiously waiting for Kodi to return his howl.

"Come on, Kodi! Please help me out!"

"Have you gone insane!?" Kirby questioned.

"Kodi's out there! He's there! That was his howl!"

"Are you sure? Are you sure your wolf isn't crazy?" Ralph asked.

"KODI!" Dingo yelled as loud as he could, "IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, ANSWER!"

There was no answer.

"Screw this!"

Dingo took off into the forest to search for his brother.

"Dingo! Get back here! I already lost Kodi!" Mr. Simpson yelled.

He just ignored his musher and kept going. Mr. Simpson followed. He could trust the others to stay at the sled. Dingo just followed his nose.

Steele could smell Dingo getting closer.

"Star, Nikki, Kaltag, get her in here! Dingo's getting closer!"

"Yes, sir!" Kaltag said.

"Dingo? Dingo's here!?" Aleu asked.

"Shut her up," Steele said.

The last thing Steele needed was another one of Balto's male pups. Two of them could take him down. Dingo stopped at an open field with a small cave. He could smell Kodi so strongly! He could smell a few other dogs, but he was too distracted by Kodi's smell. Wait, why was Kodi with other dogs?

"He's in trouble! No wait, he's in a pack! A pack?"

Dingo went to run to the cave, then Mr. Simpson grabbed him.

"Not so fast! Real stubborn of you!"

Mr. Simpson pulled Dingo by his collar. Dingo twisted and wiggled and cried out, but Mr. Simpson wouldn't let go.

"That's bad of you to just abandon the team! You can't do that!"

Mr. Simpson continued to tongue-lash Dingo. Once they were back to the sled, Mr. Simpson clipped Dingo to it.

"You lost your privileges! I'm sorry, but I don't want to lose two of you!"

"I've never seen him handle a dog like that!" Ralph shivered, "I didn't know he could be ruthless like that!"

"He's just worried about me," Dingo said, "He already lost Kodi, he doesn't want to lose me, another one of Balto's pups and not even his dog."

"He seems… angry," Kirby said.

Mr. Simpson set a bowl of food next to Dingo, "Eat, you need to! I would swat you for that, but you're not my dog."

Dingo ate his food.

The next morning, the sled team set off to go home. Balto, Jenna, and Nunivat woke up to find Kodi. As the three looked for him, they got his scent, it seemed to be everywhere, but it was taking them in circles. It was getting hopeless. They weren't going to give up, though!

Dingo got home expecting to get greeted by his mom and dad. Nope, the only ones there were Yukon and Saba.

"Hey, Dingo," Yukon said.

"Oh, hey, Yukon. What's going on?"

Dingo wasn't as close with Yukon as he was with Kodi.

"Mom, Dad, and Nunivat went out to look for Kodi."

"I heard Kodi! I got his scent! I smelled other dogs! I think he's with a pack!"

"Are you sure? He wouldn't just leave Nome to join a pack!"

"Of any of us, Nunivat would be the one to do that."

"Yeah, but she didn't, so Kodi wouldn't either."

"I have a bad feeling in my gut that I'm going to be on this team for a while. Not that I'm complaining, but I just miss Kodi and I'm away from my boy."

"I would offer to take your place, but… I'd be away from my girl."

"Family dog!"

"Shut up, Abraham Lincoln!"

"Take that back!"

"I'm Robert E. Lee! I'm better and always will be!"

While Dingo and Yukon were throwing Civil War jokes at each other, Kodi had sticks thrown at him.

"You don't just call for help like that, you hear me!?" Steele yelled.

Star, Nikki, and Kaltag were making Aleu watch her brother get beat. She couldn't stand to watch it, but they were making her!

"I's have a feeling wes are going to be here for a while," Nikki said.

"Why are you doing this!?" Aleu cried.

"Punishment, and part of the slavery is being used a throwing target," Steele said.

Balto, Jenna, and Nunivat were nearby.

"KODI!" Balto yelled at the top of his lungs.

Aleu heard her father yell for her. It was him! He was here to save them! Salvation has come!

"PAPA!" Aleu yelled as loud as she could.


	8. Bad Luck Balto

**It's not often I leave cliffhangers. It's actually pretty rare, but here's the continuation:**

Balto heard Aleu yell 'Papa.' He knew she was back! He'd get to hold his baby in his arms again.

"ALEU! WHERE ARE YOU!?"

"Dad, are you ok?" Nunivat asked.

"You're going to see your sister again!"

"I didn't hear her," Jenna said.

Kodi couldn't believe Aleu would call for help. She saw what happened to him!

"Aleu, you idiot!"

"Pa…"

Steele immediately took his focus off of Kodi and slammed Aleu to the ground. He clamped her muzzle closed.

"Your papa can't help you now that your muzzle it closed! Guess what? You get a beating! How delightful!"

"I…hate…you!" Aleu said through her closed muzzle.

She helplessly looked at Kodi hoping for him to call for Balto too. What will Star, Nikki, and Kaltag do?

Come on, Kodi! Call for Papa! Make sure he gets to us! Aleu ordered Kodi to do so in her thoughts.

Kodi was losing consciousness. He wanted to. He needed to! But he couldn't! He couldn't get to his paws! He couldn't get his voice to say anything!

"Dad…" Kodi damn near whispered, "Help…"

Kodi lost consciousness from the blood loss.

"Kodi!" Aleu yelled through her clamped muzzle.

Kaltag immediately ran to Kodi, "He lost too much blood! We have to help him!"

"Yeah, no crap!" Steele said.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, Steele sounded panicked. He could care less if Kodi died! Or did he? He wanted his life to be hell, might as well just kill him! Steele still made sure Aleu was silent, but he was making sure Kodi was ok.

"Nikki, get him elevated! Star, help Nikki support him!"

Balto tried to listen for his daughter. He couldn't hear her!

"Dad, are you ok?"

"Nunivat, be quiet!"

It's impossible! She's here! He heard her! She's… THERE! Her scent was noticeable.

"I'M COMING ALEU!"

He went for a dead spring towards Aleu. He hasn't been this happy for such a long time. Wait, Kodi! Kodi's scent is there too! Balto ran even faster than what was already a dead sprint.

"I'm coming! Stay where you are!"

Steele knew Balto was getting closer. He knew Balto wasn't alone. Although it was just Jenna and one of their daughters, who knows what they can do!

"Star, Nikki, Kaltag, tie her up! Balto's coming! We can't let him attack us! Stand over there, and we'll take him out together!"

The three obeyed.

"Just like old times!" Kaltag said.

"Wes can beat on that wolf-dogs butt, dere!" Nikki said.

Balto reached the clear strip of land. Here at last!

"I'm coming, kids!"

He went for a dead spring to the cave. Right when he took, he knocked to the ground by a giant paw. A bear! A fricken bear! Wrong place at the wrong time!

Hearing a loud roar, Steele knew something wasn't right. He turned the corner to see a bear attacking Balto! Wow! What luck! The tables of Steele's luck turned after the serum run. Now his good luck is back!

Jenna and Nunivat both went in to protect Balto. That just resulted in Jenna hitting her head on a tree, and Nunivat getting pinned. Balto immediately jumped to his paws and drew the bear off of Nunivat. Jenna was also back on the battlefield.

Balto distracted the bear, and drew him away from his wife and daughter. Jenna helped Nunivat up. They checked each other's wounds. Neither had anything too severe. Balto ducked around the bear and got back to his wife and daughter.

Steele was watching the fight they were putting on. However, he didn't feel like waiting. And if they beat the bear, they would go on to get their kids. Wow, it's like a video game! If Balto enters, he had to kill him!

If they bear defeats them, that results in Balto and Jenna dead! Steele didn't want Jenna to go. She was the only one of these red monsters he actually cared about. He doesn't even want Balto to die, he just wants his life to be hell. Same with Kodi and Aleu. Besides, if Kodi dies, that would result in EVERYONE hating his guts, Balto hunting him down, and worst of all, the grief of killing another dog. Kodi is innocent compared to Balto! Steele came up with a game plan!

"Star, Nikki, Kaltag, come here!"

The bear went to crush all three dogs, but Balto pushed Jenna and Nunivat out of the way. He was still plowed by the bear, but at least his wife and daughter wasn't. Balto couldn't get up!

"Dad!"

"Balto!"

The bear was headed straight for him! In his mind, Balto knew, GET UP STUPID! DON'T LAY ON YOUR BACK! His body thought differently. When the bear came within a few feet, Balto slowly crawled back, but he was screwed! It was his death!

He wasn't going to be able to see Aleu! He wasn't able to say goodbye to Kodi! Sorrow flooded Balto as the bear's claw was headed straight for his face. There was nothing Jenna or Nunivat could do at this point except watch their husband/father die.

"Tell Kodi and Aleu I love them!"

The claw was inches from Balto's face, when it diverted it's course after something blocked it. Steele! That crazy dog!

"Steele! You…"

"Yeah, no problem, Balto, let's try to finish this guy off!"

Steele brought Balto to his paws.

"You've changed! You saved me!"

Steele brought the bear to the ground. Jenna sprinted forward and started tearing apart it's face.

"DIE!"

The four dogs tore at the bear's jugular and it soon died.

"Sweet! My first kill since… well, I guess the last time I needed to eat," Steele said.

Jenna approached Steele.

"That was great of you to do! Thank you for saving Balto. You've changed!"

"Just saw an old friend in trouble. I decided to just jump in and redeem myself."

Balto pat Steele, "We're even."

No we're not! Steele wanted to yell.

"I do have a quick question," Jenna said, "What are my kids doing here?"

"I was wondering the same thing. I smelled your kid's scents. I walked into the cave expecting… well… I won't lie to you."

Steele could sense Balto's rage, "I really thought I was going to be able to eat your kids for breakfast. But they weren't in there. Just their scents and…"

"And what!?" Balto demanded.

"A lot of Kodi's blood. I think Aleu might've saved him."

Jenna panicked. What happened to him!? He could be hurt! Well, obviously! He could be in a lot of trouble! So can Aleu!

"Wait a minute, how do I know you're not keeping them captive? Torturing them, all that!? I smell Star, Nikki, and Kaltag."

"Come in the cave. They're not there. Star, Nikki, and Kaltag are with me, actually. If you didn't know this, they've been seeing me. Helping me change… I'm a better dog now. Come on into the cave."

The three followed Steele into the cave.

"Dad, can we trust him?"

"I'm not sure yet, Nunivat."

Star, Nikki, and Kaltag weren't in the cave.

"Star, Nikki, Kaltag, where are you!?"

"Commings Steele," Nikki said.

The three entered the cave,

"I heard you guys helped Steele out. Helped him change!"

"Sure did!" Kaltag said.

"I helped out a lot!" Star yelled.

Kaltag hit Star.

"I'll tell you guys what," Steele said, "You two go home. We'll… or at least I'll look for Kodi and Aleu.

"Steele, you don't have to do that," Balto said, "Kodi left a trail of blood, and I can find…"

"Balto, I need to redeem myself. I need to make it up to you some how, and this is just a small part I can do."

"Well, how are they going to react when they see YOU?"

"Star, Nikki, and Kaltag will be with me. They'll help me out."

Balto wasn't so sure about this, but, it's been four years since the serum run. Three of his close friends worked with Steele to make him a better dog.

"What do you think, Jenna?"

"Steele, how can we trust you?"

"I'm a changed dog. If anything happens to those two pups… I'll be torn apart!"

Jenna knew of one more test.

"Steele, kiss me."

"What?" Steele seemed surprised.

""WHAT!?"" Balto and Nunivat yelled.

"Balto," Jenna whispered, "Tell him he can."

"Are you crazy!?"

"Do it!"

Balto dreaded this idea, "You can kiss her, Steele. Go right ahead."

"R… really?"

"You earned it. I know you've always wanted to."

Steele happily approached Jenna. He brought his face close to hers, unable to control his saliva. He thought for a minute. He wanted to! He always has! But… He pulled away.

"I can't. You two are happily together. I don't want to interrupt it. Also, your daughter is watching."

Balto and Jenna looked at each other with confidence.

"Alright, Steele. You have our trust. We trust you to find our lost pups. If you do, we'll welcome you back into Nome in return," Balto said.

"You have a deal," Steele said.

Balto and Steele shook paws. Steele firmly, but friendly gripped his former enemy's paw.

"Thank you, once again. You saved my life, and you're helping to look for my pups."

"Just paying you back for what I did. Thank you for forgiving me."

"No problem, Steele. Please keep me updated."

Jenna nudged Steele. It was obviously a friend nudge though.

"Thank you, Steele."

Jenna backed away. Nunivat now had eye contact with Steele. She smiled and nodded at him. She said nothing as she walked away. The three were able to return home without a worry.


	9. Relocation

**Sorry I haven't been putting chapters up. I've been busy**

** One week later…**

Now that his place was discovered, Steele now had to find a new place for him and his friends to run the slaves. Steele had gone real easy on Kodi so he could recover. He had beaten Aleu for what she got him into, but he didn't just let her bleed like he did to Kodi. That was a mistake.

"Alright, mutts. Get going. We gotta find a new place to stay because Aleu drew Balto to my camp. Lucky all of us, I managed to get myself off the hook."

Star, Nikki, and Kaltag just got back from Nome. They had to update Balto and Jenna, then check in on their owners. Ralph, Star's owner, didn't let Star off the hook so well. Since Star was a puppy, Ralph didn't treat him well. But they were back, and ready to help Steele move.

"Where are wes going, dere?" Nikki asked.

"Any available den a good distance away from here," Steele said.

Steele attached a line from his collar to Kodi's. Last thing he needed was for Kodi to successfully get away. He was healed up and healthy by now.

"Carry her, boys," Steele said.

Star, Nikki, and Kaltag picked Aleu up and carried her. Steele looked back at the den one more time to make sure he wasn't forgetting anything.

Damn, this sucks! Steele thought, I've been at that den for four years now. After the serum run, I've done so much crying and recovery there. I cleaned it out myself, customized it to my desires, I now I have to leave it! Thanks mutts!

"Where do we go?" Kaltag asked.

"Just follow me, I smell my way to a new place."

Nikki didn't feel like carrying Aleu.

"Youse take her!" Nikki said to Star.

He dropped Aleu on Star without Star getting a word of consent out.

"Uh… hi," Star said.

"Don't drop me," Aleu said.

"I won't. You know, I don't mind carrying you."

Star enjoyed having the honor of carrying Aleu. Wow, is she hot! I would love to… wait, what am I thinking? She's Balto's daughter! I can't just mate with my best friend's daughter!

"What am I thinking!? What's wrong with me!?" Star said.

"What are you thinking about, Star?" Aleu asked.

"Oh, uh… Was Balto a good father?"

"Yeah, I love papa so much! I just hope Steele will let me see him soon. Is there any way you and your friends can help me see him?"

"Nikki and Kaltag wouldn't help me, and I can't single handedly smuggle you to Nome."

"Do you have any idea when Steele will let us go?"

"I don't have a clue. I…"

"Shut up, Star!" Kaltag said.

Star shut his mouth. They came upon a den. Steele constricted Aleu back so she couldn't escape his grip. He released Kodi from the line that connected their collars.

"Kodi, go in and check if the den is occupied. If not, check the scents, see if there have been recent animals, if so, what and how many."

Kodi headed to the den. He looked back at Aleu. She pointed to Steele as if to ask if she should pull a move and try to escape. Kodi shook his head. It wouldn't be worth it. He went into the cave. It wasn't in bad shape. It was looking good until he turned the corner to find a group of foxes sitting there. They all looked over at him, growling.

"I mean no harm!" Kodi yelled.

He booked out of the den and ran back to the group.

"Occupied!"

"Why are you running out like that?" Steele asked.

"Who'd win a fight, me or 7 foxes!?"

"We're 6 dogs. We got 3 Huskies, a Malamute, and Chinook, and a Chow. We got this," Steele said, "Not to mention, two of you are part wolf."

The 7 foxes came out of the den to see all the commotion.

"Aww, what's this? 6 puppies wanting to play?" a fox taunted

"We just want your den, that's all," Steele said.

Kodi and Aleu looked at each other wide-eyed.

"He's got guts!" Kodi said.

"Poodles play rough, don't they?" another fox taunted.

"Do you guys want to make the first move, or should I?" Steele offered.

A fox went right for Star. Star is their weakest member. Kaltag immediately pulled the fox off of Star. He may be annoying, but he's still a good friend!

"Attack!" the fox leader said.

"Attack!" Steele commanded.

Steele took on both the leader and what appeared to be the Beta. That's perfectly fine with him! More fun! Kodi reflected fox that came right to him. Nikki was already on top of one, crushing the air out him. Kaltag was having trouble with the massive fox attacking him. Although Kaltag was still bigger, the fox was younger.

Kodi got his fox to surrender.

He looked around at everyone getting attacked. Steele was getting teamed up on, and Star, Nikki, and Kaltag were in battles of their own. He can switch teams right now! Make friends with the foxes, and kill the four dogs that have enslaved him! But… that was a dishonorable move. Three of these dogs were still his friends.

He then realized Aleu was on the ground getting beat by a fox.

"Hell no! Get off!" Kodi yelled.

"Reinforcements!" the fox leader called.

Kodi was about to rip the fox that was on top of Aleu apart, but he got pulled back and tackled by two more foxes. Coming to help was Star. He managed to pull a fox off of Kodi before getting tackled by another one. Once Kaltag was finally done with his fox, he helped Aleu. Steele had finished off the leader, the Beta, and another fox before knocking all three foxes off of Kodi with one blow.

Steele was protecting him? Steele was taking out the foxes attacking him? For once Kodi actually felt protected by Steele. He felt like Steele was a friend. A team mate. This strange bond motivated Kodi to get to his paws and help everyone out.

Steele was taking on three foxes at once! Kodi knew if he were Steele, he'd be dead by now. Kodi looked over his shoulder at Aleu who was leaned up against a rock. She didn't seem hurt, but she was definitely exhausted. Kaltag had finished off two more foxes, Nikki fighting off one that brought Star to the ground. Star laid there with a wounded leg.

A fourth fox attacked Steele. That brought Steele to the ground. Kodi needed to return the favor. He bumped two off and ripped a third to the ground.

"Thanks, kid!"

Kid? Kodi thought. Did Steele see him differently now?

Once the foxes were finished off, they circled around wounded Star.

"It hurts! Don't touch it!" Star yelled.

"Kodi, check the den again. If the coast is clear, we'll bring him in."

Kodi went and checked the den. Wait, Steele trusted Kodi to go off by himself. He didn't even hold Aleu back. Was this a new bond between them? The coast was clear. Aleu helped Star into the cave and licked his wounded leg again. Kaltag and Nikki assisted.

Steele pat Kodi on the back.

"Thanks, again. You could've turned on me back there. But you didn't. You helped me out. You got those four foxes off me. I can't thank you enough for not going against me. You helped me fight off those foxes."

"Yeah, no problem."

"I still have stuff that needs done. Especially since I had to get moved to a new den. I still need someone to do my work. I need you to work for me. But maybe not as my slave. Maybe we can be more than slave and owner, but… maybe…"

"Friends?" Kodi offered.

Steele, knowing Kodi's gay, opened up his arms.

"I'm thinking more than friends. Closer than friends."

Kodi gripped Steele's right paw, pulled him in, and wrapped his left arm around Steele's back forming a bro-hug.

"Bros!" Kodi declared.

Steele couldn't believe Kodi didn't get the hint.

"Bros," Steele agreed insincerely.

The four dogs in the other watched the bro-hug.

"You two are starting to like each other, huh?" Aleu asked.

"Aleu, come here, I gotta talk to you," Steele said.

Kodi sat down next to the three dogs that remained his friends.

"I'll give you the same brief I did to Kodi. Thank you for not turning on me when we were fighting the foxes. You could've easily killed me and returned happily to Nome."

"I was following Kodi. Whatever he did, I would do."

"Well, thanks. I still have work that needs done around here, especially moving to a new den. I can't free you, but I will treat you like friend rather than property. Can you forgive me for what I've done to you?"

Aleu was getting a thank and an apology from this devil? Maybe he's not so bad after all.

"Yeah, Steele. I forgive you. I'll stay with you and not try to escape as long as you don't treat me badly."

Aleu nudged Steele. Steele nudged back.

"It's a deal."


	10. An Unbreakable Bond

**Warning: Contains gay content. **

**A short chapter**

** One month later…**

On a cold night, Kodi was balled up on the opposite side of the den from where Steele was. There were two different rooms in this den. One where Kodi, Aleu, Star, Nikki, and Kaltag slept, and one where Steele slept. Steele was also balled up and cold.

It was going into fall now. It's starting to snow, and the weather is getting colder, making living hell. Steele wasn't alone by himself like he was during the last three falls. He got up and went into the other room. He licked Kodi.

"Hey, kid. Get up."

"Yeah, Steele?"

"Come and sleep in my room with me."

"Is it warmer?"

"Not by much. But we can make it warmer."

Kodi was still half asleep. He didn't realize how weird that sounded. He walked into the other room to feel less draft. It wasn't any warmer, but there was a least less wind.

"Come cuddle up with me," Steele offered.

"Alright, your warm body will make things better," Kodi agreed.

Kodi cuddled up to Steele.

"You know, Kodi, I have this strange feeling when…"

Kodi was already asleep and snoring.

"Hey, kid, wake up, I need to talk to you about something."

Kodi woke up again and looked back up at Steele.

"Yeah?"

"Kodi… I have something to confess to you."

"What did you do to Aleu?"

"What? No! It's not that."

Kodi started to scoot away from Steele.

"You told Nome!? You bastard!"

"Kodi! It's not that! Trust me! I didn't tell them. I won't. I promise you! It would be so wrong of me!"

Steele started to get worried. His advantage to draw Kodi in could get ruined. To his relief, Kodi scooted back in.

"Kodi… I gotta say this straight to you. I love you!"

"I love you too, Steele! You're like a… I guess a father! Another father!"

"Kodi, I don't mean that kind of love. I mean… another kind of love. Like… oh…"

Kodi started to realize what Steele was getting at.

"Kodi, you said you're gay, right? I've kind of seen with my own eyes. I didn't think I was… until about a month ago."

"Uh…"

"I've had a great bond with you! I've never had someone be so loyal to me as you have. I've never treated someone so badly and have them continue to respect me."

Steele tightened his grip on Kodi.

"Steele?"

"Kodi… will… will you be my mate?"

"Uh… wow, this is sudden."

Kodi looked into Steele's eyes. Those bright blue eyes definitely helped change his mind. Mate with… Steele? His dad's worst enemy? The biggest scumbag to walk the streets of Nome? But… maybe he's changed. Maybe this could be something different. By mating with Steele, maybe Steele will change forever.

Yeah, I'm gay, Kodi thought, But this doesn't seem right.

Steele leaned in and kissed Kodi. This didn't help Kodi's resistance at all. But it helped him make his decision! Steele will become his mate!

As the moon got brighter, so did the spirits of the two males giving love to each other. It just wasn't right. But it was! It's Balto's son, and Balto's worst enemy! Not to mention, both males. But, they love each other. And that's how it'll stay.


	11. Kodi might not come back

** Another month later…**

As another month passed, Balto and Jenna were getting hopeless. Steele lied to them didn't he? Jenna came to Balto's boat.

"Did you get any word from Steele?" Jenna asked.

"No," Balto said, "I'm starting to get worried. Either Steele just cant find them, or he lied to us again."

"Don't get worried, Balto. I'm almost sure he's trustable."

"Says you, Jenna. Steele had a big crush on you for a long time. You don't know how bad he was. I'm just worried we left our kids in the wrong paws. What if Steele tortures them?"

"You're overreacting, Balto."

"I hope so."

Meanwhile, the sled dogs were talking in the boiler room. It's become inevitable to Dingo's boy that Dingo was a permanent sled dog now. He had to let Dingo go.

"I miss Kodi…" Kirby said.

"He's my brother. How do you think I feel?" Dingo asked.

Dusty sighed, "If he could run with us one more time… that'd be nice."

"Do you think he's dead?" Ralph asked.

Dingo let some tears fall, "He's my closest sibling. One of the closest dogs in my life to me! If he's dead… I'd be lost."

Nunivat came into the boiler room.

"Dad said Steele's on our side now," she said.

"What do you mean?" Kirby asked.

"Steele's dad's worst enemy!" Dingo said.

"Well, apparently, Balto ran into Steele and he's changed. He said he spotted Kodi and Aleu in cave."

"How can dad trust him?"

"He said Star, Nikki, and Kaltag helped Steele change, and he apologized to dad and will make it up to him by finding them!"

"So you mean to tell us that Steele turned good?" Dusty asked.

"Wait, did you say Aleu?" Dingo asked.

Nunivat's face brightened up. She didn't think about that either.

"Oh my God! We're gonna see Aleu again!" she yelled.

"Kodi and Aleu are coming back!" Dingo yelled.

The three other sled dogs jumped and cheered with the thought that they could have Kodi back and not have to deal with Dingo for any longer. They liked Dingo, but he pushed them way too hard and wasn't even the lead dog.

Star, Nikki, and Kaltag had noticed something weird between Kodi and Steele. Aleu had noticed it too. Why had they been acting so differently and weirdly around each other? Steele treated Kodi like… well… a mate. He also treated Aleu like a daughter. Kodi treated Steele like a mate too.

Aleu pulled Kodi aside.

"Kodi, you've been acting weird lately. Steele's been acting really weird." she said.

"Why do you say that?"

"The way you and Steele are acting around each other. The way He's been treating us is weird."

"Him and I had a long talk a month ago. He heavily apologized. He promised me he'd take care of us like a son and daughter."

"He's been taking care of you like a mate!"

Kodi couldn't let Aleu know his and Steele's secret.

"I don't see it."

Steele was about ready to head out to Nome.

"I'll be back," he said.

"Where are you going?"

"I gotta check the territory. Don't want more foxes."

Both pups could sense BS. Aleu was too scared to say anything, and Kodi just didn't care.

"Bye Kodi!"

Steele nudged Kodi.

"Bye Aleu!"

Steele walked out.

"See? He nudged you and not me!"

"Yeah, that was pretty weird."

A few hours, later, as Steele was coming into Nome, Dingo and the team were heading out.

"Steele!" Dingo yelled.

Dingo saw the team heading out.

"How are you doing Dingo?" Steele yelled.

Dingo felt some fear over come him as he realized Steele knew his name. Steele had an awkward feeling around Dingo. Damn will it be weird telling him that he mated with his brother. Steele came onto to Balto's boat and knocked at the entrance.

"Hey Balto, are you here?"

Balto was relieved to hear Steele's voice.

"Yeah, I'm over here! Are my kids ok? Did you find them!?"

For the second time in his life, Balto was glad to see Steele. Hell the first time was just a couple months ago.

"I got some news…" Steele said.

Steele didn't know how to Balto that he mated with his son. His fricken son! One of his kids was bad enough.

"Balto… ah… I kinda need to tell you something."

"Is it good or bad!?"

"It's… well… I kind of… your son mated with… I know…"

Balto panicked, "ARE YOU GETTING AT WHAT I THINK YOU ARE!? YOU'RE WITH MY SON AREN'T YOU!?"

Steele didn't want it to go down the way it's about to. He changed his course and did what he does best. Lie.

"Aleu's pregnant."

"WITH MY DAUGHTER TOO!?"

Balto lunged at Steele. Expecting it, Steele reflected it.

"HOMEFIELD ADVANTAGE! BRING IT ON!"

"Balto! It's not what you think! Kodi has a mate! Aleu is pregnant! What does that combination make!? Think about it! I witnessed incest with my own eyes! I hate to tell you, but it's true!"

Steele started feeling sorrow and regret. What did he just get those kids into!? He couldn't afford to have Balto be mad at him or have the town hate him more. It's what he needs to do.

"This can't be!"

Balto started feeling light headed and couldn't stay on his paws. He ran to the side of his boat with whatever energy he had and threw up. He passed out afterwards.

"Balto!"

Steele came to Balto and elevated him. What was he doing!? He's helping the guy he hates and is trying to make miserable! But… he cares about Balto now! Balto cares about him! A few minutes later, Balto regained consciousness.

"Steele! Oh God! Is it true!?"

"I'm afraid so. I don't like having to tell you. But I have to."


	12. Steele's Realization

The next day, Dingo and the rest of the team went on a mail run at an extremely fast pace. They were so excited that Kodi was coming back! Adrenaline was running through all 6 dogs pulling the sled.

Steele had spent the night on Balto's boat. Balto was lenient enough to let Steele stay with him. They trusted each other… for once. Steele nudged Balto to get him to wake up.

"Alright, Najha! I'll get you some cupcakes!" Balto said.

"What? No! I'm heading out. I gotta find the two kids."

Balto perked his ears up, "I thought you found them!"

"I did, I need to make sure they're still there is what I meant."

_ Chances are, they're not going to try to escape at this point,_ Steele thought.

"I should probably go with you," Balto offered.

"No! Balto, I still owe you! I'm going to get your kids! Don't you worry!"

"It doesn't seem right to…"

"I put you through so much hell! The least I can do is find your kids! You can trust me, Balto!"

Balto still remembers Steele's eye expressions. This one was serious and promising.

"Alright, is there anything I can do?"

"Tell Jenna, your friends, and your other pups about what happened between Kodi and Aleu."

"That'll get everyone to give them hell though. Do you realize the kind of controversy this'll cause!?"

"What will they think when they see her with KODI's pups?"

"True… I guess you're right… alright, I'll tell them."

Steele and Balto walked off the boat and went different directions. When Steele was out of Balto's range, he fell to the ground with the laughter he'd been holding back.

"I did it! I made their life hell already! Haha! Oh God! That's too funny! Their own father!"

Steele's gut started cramping.

"Oww! Haha! I can't stop laughing!"

Steele got up and started walking. Before long, he started feeling regret and sorrow. How could he have just lied to Nome already!? They haven't even escaped! Oh God! What has Steele done!?

"What kind of rotten dog am I!? Oh crap! I just betrayed my mate like that! How could I have just ruined my mate's life like that!? Oh Kodi! I'm sorry!"

Steele started having an anxiety attack. He hasn't had one this bad since the serum run. Despite his heavy breathing, he ran and ran. He didn't stop running. His was light headed. He couldn't feel anything. Everything he saw was just a complete blur! He couldn't control his body movement at all! He just ran! That's all he could do! Before long, he fell to the ground after his paws failed on him.

"What's wrong with me!?" Steele said.

His head was dug into the ground. He got to his paws still breathing heavily. Once all the blur was gone, he looked up at his old den.

"This den… my old den! Home for 4 years! The one before I mated to Kodi. The one before I even enslaved Kodi."

Steele realized something.

"My home that protected me after the serum run! Because of Kodi, I was forced to leave this place! The place I loved! I did so much crying and mending here!"

Steele shook off. He wasn't breathing heavily anymore. However, he was angry. He was PISSED!

"How dare I mate to Kodi! What's wrong with me!? Kodi deserves to have that reputation at Nome! I'm gonna kill him!"

Steele punched himself in the face.

"You mated with your enemy! Good job retard!"

Steele went for a dead sprint back to his new den. The last thing on Kodi and Aleu's mind was escaping, so they were still there gathered with Star, Nikki, and Kaltag. When Steele got back, he was immediately forceful.

"You two, get up now!"

"Steele!" Kodi yelled.

He went to hug Steele. When Kodi got close, Steele grabbed Kodi's neck and threw him to the ground.

"Mating to you was one of the biggest mistakes I've made!"

Aleu, Star, Nikki, and Kaltag all gasped and stood wide-eyed.

"But Steele…"

"Shut up! Go tie yourself up before I have to hurt you!"

Kodi got to his paws. He couldn't believe Steele was back to his old self.

"Is this a joke, or are…"

Steele body-slammed Kodi back to the ground.

"GO DO IT!"

Kodi got back up, legs bend, ears down, head now, and tail between his legs. He couldn't make eyes contact or even look at Steele. He slowly walked into the den, tied, himself up, and laid in a corner and cried. He couldn't stop. Steele went up to Star, Nikki, and Kaltag.

"One of you impregnate her!" Steele commanded pointing at Aleu.

The three dogs grew excited, however anxious and scared. They would have to torture Aleu, make her carry their pups, then have to deal with Balto. If they ignored Steele's orders, well, who knows. They didn't want to take that risk.

"Which one of us?" Kaltag asked.

"I don't care! Any of you!"

The three looked amongst each other. Who to torture Aleu? This was one thing they didn't do.

"Aleu, we'll leave it to you to pick which one of us to impregnate you."

Aleu didn't want this, but Steele was back to his old self. The answer had been clear since day 1. Star.

"To the two others, it won't break your hearts that I didn't choose you, right?"

"It's something wes don't really wants to dos," Nikki said.

"Well, Star, you're up. Welcome to Aleu."

Star's face lit up while Nikki and Kaltag were relieved to not have to be the ones responsible. Aleu pulled Star around to the back of the den in the trees. Kaltag and Nikki stood by on guard. Kodi remained in the corner crying and bawling. Not balling. If he was ballin' he wouldn't be in this situation.

"Keep crying, mutt! Don't expect me to cheer you up! Don't you dare wake me up from your crying! It'll be my foot going up your butt this time!"

Kodi couldn't keep feeling sorry for himself! He had to do something about this! Maybe Steele will go back to his old self tonight. Maybe tomorrow. Meanwhile, Star was in heaven! He's never mated before! Then again, Kaltag and Nikki haven't either. Instead of keeping guard like they were supposed to, Kaltag and Nikki were telling anti-jokes to each other.

"How do you make a plumber cry?" Kaltag asked.

"How?" Nikki asked.

"You kill his family."

Nikki fell on his ass laughing. When he finally calmed down, it was his turn to tell a joke.

"What is green and has 4 wheels?" Nikki asked.

"A green car?"

"Grass. I's lied about the wheels."

"You butt! What's red and smells like blue paint?"

"What?"

"Red paint, dummy!"

Dingo and his team delivered the mail in a record time Dingo is about ready to be promoted to lead dog.


	13. Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired

** 4 months later…**

Kodi and Aleu have been enslaved for 6½ months now! For the last 4 months, they have been getting treated like complete trash. Steele broke his promise about not treating them like property.

Aleu is also 6 weeks pregnant (Dog pregnancies last ~ 9 weeks), and she has to do the harsh work she's always had to do. Her and Star have had to try multiple times. She is becoming less mobile as time progressed, and she didn't want her pups to get hurt. Even if they were forced, she was still going to be a good mother!

Kodi hasn't gotten a single spec of love from Steele since the first time he got back from Nome. What happened?

Steele has gone back to Nome every now and then to make sure Balto didn't lose faith in him. Steele continued to lie, and by now, damn near all of Nome thought Kodi and Aleu had mated and was staying out of town so they don't make it obvious.

Dingo is now at lead dog. With him running at the front, the sled team hasn't been late once. Most of the time, they ran early. Though Kodi was missed, they were doing just fine without him.

Dingo knows Steele is behind all this. He knows Kodi and Aleu didn't mate. Kodi's dead! Steele's disgracing Kodi. He's telling everyone BS so they don't miss him, just see him as a sick dog.

There have been so many nights that he has stayed up crying, not able to sleep. Not only was his closest brother dead, but his spirit was left in disgrace, and everyone disrespects him now. Poor Dingo doesn't know Kodi is just fine, just enslaved.

Jenna cries a lot herself.

_Come on, you two! Please just come back! I don't care that you two mated! I just want to see my kids and help raise the pups! I love you two!_ Jenna pleaded.

Star, Nikki, and Kaltag have been watching Steele mistreat the two of Balto's kids. They surely were starting to get annoyed with it. They've been feeling bad for them since day one. Kodi hated their guts! They're traitors! They should go to hell!

Kodi went up to Aleu.

"Aleu, I'm getting real tired of this crap! We need to escape!"

"Yeah! But how?"

"Take out Star, Nikki, and Kaltag one by one, then double team Steele."

"Kodi, I'm pregnant! I'm very limited on my ability! I think Star, Nikki, and Kaltag can help u…"

"Forget those guys! They're not gonna help us!"

"Who knows, they might!"

"I'm not taking the risk!"

"You know, Kodi, there's still one thing I don't understand."

"What's that?"

"Why did you mate with Steele?"

Kodi planned on keeping this a secret, but Aleu knows now.

"Because… I… I grew a bond with Steele after we moved to this den. He wanted to be more than friends. I didn't get the hint until a little later. One night he brought me to his room to help keep him warm. I slowly got feelings for him, and we… mated."

Steele swatted Kodi.

"Stop talking and get me food!"

Kodi got up and went to hunt for Steele. God, he was fed up! This better end soon! He was obviously off the team by now. Steele just recently burned his mark into Kodi again. Star, Nikki, and Kaltag aren't any help! Those three traitors are nothing but cowards! They're following Steele's orders and not doing anything about it!

Kodi came back with some food for Steele. Star, Nikki, and Kaltag were the ones that usually fed Kodi and Aleu because Steele would intentionally eat all of his. Steele was going to use Aleu today, so Kodi is now with Star, Nikki, and Kaltag.

"You guys are still scumbags! You don't have any of my respect!"

"Kodi, this has been going on for 6 months. You and Aleu have both been completely mistreated!" Kaltag said.

"Showing mercy now won't help at all!"

"Youse dos realize that wes want to help youse," Nikki said.

"Help me with what!? Making my life more miserable!? You're accent annoys me!"

Nikki got offended, however, what Kodi said was completely understandable.

"What if we help you escape," Star said.

"You guys won't! You're nothing but cowards!"

"Kodi, please just hear us out! We're being blackmailed by Steele much like you are!" Kaltag said.

"Do you expect me to believe that!? You've been Steele's best friends for a long time!"

"Wes hate Steele's guts, dere!" Nikki said.

"Well, maybe now, but you used to be Steele's friends!"

Kaltag came closer to Kodi.

"Kodi, do you want to know why I was loyal to Steele? He gave me the option to become his right hand man. Because of that, I kind of had to be loyal to him. Do you want to know how I became his right hand man?"

Kodi backed away from Kaltag. It was uncomfortable with him being that close.

"What did you have to do?"

"You know what your mom and dad did to make you? I was in your mom's position."

"What the f… What… Are you…"

Kodi had to pace in circles to prevent an overload of shock from blowing up his brain.

"You're gay too?"

"Hell no! A man has to do what a man has to do to rise up in the ranks! I'll tell you, that is one of, if not, the biggest mistake I've made in my life!"

Kodi started to believe these guys now.

"What did he blackmail you guys about?"

"Make sure Steele isn't listening in!" Star said.

"Well, for me, he's going to tell everyone about that little incident," Kaltag said.

"He is going to tell Nome that I's plotted and tried tos kill Balto," Nikki said.

"What about you, Star?" Kodi asked.

"I became Steele's left hand man."

"What does that… oh."

Kodi wanted to stay mad, but if they're going through the same thing he is, he sure feels bad for them.

"I'm sorry to hear that, guys. If… if there's anything I can do to help then… why don't we just take him out?" Kodi asked.

"Steele is sneaky! You'd be surprised about trying to kill him. It'll be a failure. However… we can sneak you guys out of here!" Kaltag said.

"Really!? You'll do that for us!?"

"Kodi, I'm sure you're still mad at me about mating with Aleu. But… I kind of had to. I love her dearly. You're basically my brother-in-law. I'll do my best to help you guys," Star said.

"How are you going to sneak us out?"

"Chew up your line tonight," Kaltag said, "Then come out. I'll be scouting tonight. One of you will have to hit me on the head to knock me out. Leave a mark, because that's the whole point of that."

"If youse make it tos Nome in time, youse can prevent the blackmail on youse from taking effect," Nikki said.

Little did they all know that Steele told Balto, who told Jenna and his kids about it, who told their closest friends that promised not to spread the rumor, who spread the rumor, and it's all throughout Nome now.

"Alright, so when should we get this started?"

"As soon as Steele is in a deep sleep, chew and break the line that's holding you back. We'll tell Aleu the plan when Steele is done with her," Kaltag said.

Kodi nudged Kaltag.

"Thank you!"

He nudged Nikki.

"Thank you too, Nikki!"

He hugged Star.

"Thank you Star! I ask one more thing of you. That is to help my sister raise her pups!"

"It's a deal!" Star said proudly.

The day had come to an end. Star, Nikki, and Kaltag had told Aleu their plan. Kodi couldn't even sleep because he was so anxious about whether or not this plan will work. If it did, how exciting it would be to be back home. But there's that bad feeling that Steele can still tell everyone the news.

That was alright though. He had to remember to chew the line that was holding him back after Steele fell asleep. This had to work! None of them could afford to fail this!


	14. Liberty! Freedom! T or Not!

That night, Kodi was anticipating Steele to fall asleep. Once he was finally asleep, he started chewing away. Nikki and Star had fallen asleep, while Kaltag was waiting for the hit on the head. It wouldn't knock him out, (although he'll claim it did) but it'll leave a mark. Kodi had to give Kaltag the sign to give Aleu the sign.

Kodi finally chewed his line. When it snapped, it made a large sound. Kodi froze at that moment. If that woke Steele up, that would be so bad! After a minute of being frozen, relief flooded through Kodi, and he proceeded forward.

Once in sight, he nodded to Kaltag, who bent his head down to let Aleu take her heat out on him. She did.

"OWW!" Kaltag yelled.

He didn't muffle his yelp like he should've. All three froze waiting to see whether or not Steele woke up. Once again, they lucked out.

"Good luck, you two! Escape! We'll stop and check on you when we can!" Kaltag said.

"Thanks, Kaltag! Really! I'm sorry about misjudging you like I did," Kodi said.

Aleu nudged Kaltag.

"Thank you so much! Tell Star and Nikki that too! Tell Star I love him! Good luck to you too!" Aleu said.

Kaltag and Kodi shook paws.

"Seriously, man! Watch your back! Steele will be enraged! You gotta make sure he doesn't try to spread the rumor even after get back, and also watch for him trying to attack you!"

"I will. You watch your back too! Try to get to Nome as quickly as possible!"

Kodi and Aleu went for a dead sprint home. Kaltag laid down to try to go to sleep. It would also make it look like he was unconscious.

Kodi had A LOT of explaining to do. Man, would he have to catch up on what he missed and try to get back on the team! He knew Dingo took his place, so it wouldn't be hard for Dingo to just resign and give Kodi his position back. What would Balto think? What would Jenna think? What about Dingo, Yukon, Nunivat, and Saba? What if his own team just forgot about him? What if Mr. Simpson doesn't love him anymore?

All this worry got Kodi to run even faster. He couldn't let his life go to waste. There is still that possibility Steele could've told the town whenever he went to Nome. What if that's true? Steele wouldn't! Or… would he?

"Come Aleu! Run faster!"

"I can't! I'm pregnant! Run ahead! The town will be more excited to see you, anyway!"

"No! Don't think like that! Even if it's true, you can't think that way!"

At a dead sprint, Kodi was getting tired himself. The fact that he was out of training didn't help! He slowed down for his and Aleu's sake.

"How much longer until Nome!?" Aleu cried.

"Not much longer! We… have to keep going! We can't stop now!"

"How much longer though!? An hour!? Or just a few minutes!?"

"I'm not sure about that one! I…"

Aleu collapsed to the ground.

"I can't go any longer! It'll hurt the pups!"

Kodi needed to get back to Nome! It was crucial at this point! But he can't leave Aleu out here! He can't make her keep running either! There were two options, wait for her to get ready to move again, or carry her. He chose B. He pulled her onto his back and started going again.

"What are you doing!?"

"I need to get home! I'll carry you to satisfy both of us!"

"Kodi, put me down! You're scaring me!"

"I got this Aleu! Keep calm!"

"I'll keep calm and carry on!"

_"Search endlessly._

_Fight 'til we're free!_

_Fly past the edge of the sea!_

_No mended knee._

_No mockery!_

_Somehow we still carry on!"_ Aleu sang.

The singing helped Kodi run 80 pounds on his back. The average musher is 180 pounds with a sled, however he has 5 dogs working with him and the weight isn't on his back. He ran and ran. He ran until the town was finally in sight. When it was, Aleu jumped off of Kodi and ran with him.

"Skip the town! Run around the town! We need to get to dad's boat!"

Kodi and Aleu set their course to go the long way and around the town.

Balto was sitting on his boat crying, just begging for his kids to come back. Begging that Steele will bring his kids to safety. He soon heard a familiar howl. Two familiar howls! They were nearby! Could it be!? They're back! They're finally back!

With the though of incest in the back of his mind, he ran at full speed to his kids. He brought both of them in with tears in his eyes.

"Kodi! Aleu! You're back!" Balto yelled.

"I'm here, dad! I'm ready for service!" Kodi cried.

"I missed you, Papa!" Aleu said.

"I missed you too, Aleu! Don't run away ever again!"

"I promise I won't!"

The three dogs remained coupled to each other. Balto soon had to ask the question on why they mated, but now wasn't the time.

"Where were you three!? I heard what happened!"

"We were deep in the woods! We couldn't leave!" Kodi said.

"You didn't want the town to know… did you?"

Kodi and Aleu froze.

"Know what?" Aleu asked.

"Aleu, you're pregnant. Those pups don't belong to any of the males in your pack do they?"

"Papa, I…"

"You two mated. Kodi, you got your own sister pregnant! What's wrong with you!?"

Kodi and Aleu couldn't believe Balto fell for it.

"YOU BELIEVED HIM!? WHY WOULD YOU BELIEVE STEELE!? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!?" Kodi roared.

"Calm down! What the hell are you talking about!? Steele had changed! He saw you two!"

"Dad, Steele is the reason why we've been gone for 6 months! You fell for his lies! He enslaved us!"

"What? Then… why did he help me fight off the bear instead of letting it just kill me?"

"He didn't want you dead. He wanted you to suffer! That whole thing was part of his lie!"

"Where were you guys when Steele invited me into his cave?"

"Star, Nikki, and Kaltag hauled us into the forest so you couldn't find us," Aleu said, "If you want to know the real father, it's Star."

"THEY TURNED ON ME!? WHAT'S WRONG WITH THEM! I'M GOING TO KILL THEM!"

"No, papa! They were getting blackmailed by Steele. Much like us."

"You were blackmailed?"

"He threatened to tell Nome that we mated if we didn't become his slave."

Balto then realized, Steele told Nome anyway.

"Oh my God! Kodi, Aleu… he told Nome anyway!"

"What!? So…"

"The whole town thinks you two mated! This isn't good! We have to stop this!"

"Do you want to know how badly we were abused? Did you see those blood stains on the floor of the den? That was from us! I passed out from blood loss!" Kodi said.

"I'M GOING TO KILL HIM! WHERE IS HE!?"

"We don't know. Our goal was to get to Nome. Now we have a new crisis on our paws!" Aleu said.


	15. So Many Tears

**Balto doesn't agree with Kodi's homosexuality like he does in the Zombie Apocalypse and "Blinded in Chains"**

Balto and his two found kids had a big problem. Step one was trying to get the family to know the truth.

"Kodi, I gotta break the news to you… Uh… You've been permanently replaced on the team," Balto said.

Kodi let some tears fall. Why is that such a disappointment? He knew that's what would happen.

"Who replaced me?"

"Dingo. He was next up on the list."

More tears fell. Some were from happiness that his brother got his chance to become a sled dog. He was proud of Dingo.

"Another thing, Dingo is at lead dog. He pushed the team hard and earned the spot. You would have to boot someone else off the team."

Kodi sighed. That's also good and bad.

"Are you ok?"

"I know the first dog to talk to!"

Kodi bolted off leaving his dad and sister behind.

"Kodi! Where are you going?" Aleu asked.

"Leave him, he needs to talk to his brother."

Aleu ignored Balto and caught up to Kodi.

"Kodi, where are you going?"

"I need to talk to Dingo! Even if he sees me as a freak, I gotta get him to get me back on the team!"

"Where is he?"

"There's two possible places. I have to lay low and go stealth. I can't be spotted by anyone yet. Stay in the forest."

"But what about Steele? He can get me!"

"He's probably just now waking up! It'll be hours before he gets here!"

"Alright, be safe! Don't get spotted!"

Kodi snuck through the alleyways and around the buildings. Leaving his scent really didn't help, but he had no choice. He had to check Dingo's house. He climbed up to Matt's room and barked in.

"Dingo! Are you in here!?"

There was no answer except for a human voice. Kodi couldn't be seen by Matt. He jumped down and ran back into the trees. He now had to make his way to the boiler room. Uh oh! His scent was caught! Dingo's friend Zoltan found him! Kodi went for a dead sprint. He could only be seen by Dingo!

"Kodi! I haven't seen you for months! Are the puppies cute?"

Kodi kept running. He hid behind some crates next the boiler room. Dusty and Ralph were walking by. Kodi could sense something between them, but that was the least of his worries. Once his old friends passed, he made his way to the door of the boiler room. When he looked in he saw Kirby, but no one else.

"Where is Dingo?"

"Kodi!?" a voice yelled.

At first Kodi was scared, then he recognized the voice. Get over here! Kodi gestured.

"Kodi! It…"

"Dingo! Run to the woods!"

Dingo followed Kodi into the trees. As soon as Kodi turned around, Dingo dug his face into Kodi's neck and shoulder. Tears of nothing but happiness pouring out of his eyes.

"You're alive! I can't believe it!"

"Yeah, I'm just fine!"

Dingo wouldn't let go of Kodi. It was uncomfortable for Kodi because his own brother was wetting him with tears.

"You're alive! I thought Steele was telling everyone BS to disgrace you and hide the fact that he killed you!"

"Wait what?"

"I didn't believe anything Steele or anyone else said! I thought you were dead! But you're not! I love you, Kodi!"

"I love you, too! What… did he tell everyone?"

"He tried telling us that you mated with Aleu! She's not even here!"

"Thank you for not believing that! Steele enslaved us. He beat and used us."

"Wait, us?"

"Aleu is here!"

Aleu came in from the trees.

"Hi, Dingo!" she called.

Dingo and Aleu approached each other. Aleu with a smile and Dingo with a face of disbelief. When he was within arm-distance of her, Dingo touch and rubbed Aleu's face to make sure it wasn't his imagination.

"Aleu… It's you!"

"I missed you, Dingo!"

Dingo now dug his head into Aleu's neck and shoulder. Even more tears of happiness fell.

"It's been almost three years!"

"I can't believe it!"

Dingo observed the fact that Aleu was pregnant.

"Wait a minute. Aleu… you're… Kodi, is it true?" Dingo asked.

Kodi pulled Dingo up to him.

"Don't believe anything Steele says! He is a liar! You remember Star? Dad's old friend? That's who made her pregnant!"

"Wait, Star turned on us?"

"I had initially thought Star, Nikki, and Kaltag had all turned on us. I later found out they were blackmailed by Steele. I also found out how Star and Kaltag became Steele's right hand men."

"How's that?"

Kodi whispered into Dingo's ear how they did. Dingo stood there with his eyes wide open.

"Eww! Ugh! That… what!?"

"I BS you not!"

"What did you do that to him too?"

"Yup!" Kodi confessed.

"Eww! That's gross to just joke about!"

Little did Dingo know Kodi actually did.

"No, Dingo! He really did!" Aleu helped.

"This is going a little too far, let's head to dad's boat."

They headed back to their dad's boat.

"Remember how I told you I was gay, but I didn't want anyone to know about it, and you swore you wouldn't tell anyone?"

"Yeah, I never told anyone."

"Steele was stalking me and he found out on his own I was gay. Another thing I told you about that you swore not to tell anyone about was what I did to Kirby when he was sleeping."

"I almost told dad about that. That was actually really bad, but I knew he would make a really big deal about it.

"Thanks for not telling him, but Steele saw me do that too! This is all more stuff that he blackmailed me with!"

"Damn, that sucks! However, I talked to Kirby a little bit. He says he goes both ways!"

Kodi gained confidence.

"Really!? No way!"

"I think once this whole dilemma is solved, you have a chance!"

"I love you, bro!"

"You know, while you were gone, for so many nights, I stayed up crying because I thought you were dead. Many nights I cried myself to sleep, others I got no sleep at all. I couldn't even stay in the room with Matt because I annoyed the crap out of him."

"Well, I'm here. You don't have to worry!"

The three walked onto Balto's boat. Kodi had to tell Balto the truth. The fact that he's gay. Will his dad turn his back or continue to love his son? There's only one way to find out.

"Dad, there's something I've been meaning to tell you," Kodi said.

"What did Steele do to you?"

"I should've told you this a long time ago. Dad… I… I'm… I'm g… Dad, I'm gay!"

"Kodi, you know I don't play around like your brothers, don't joke like that."

"I'm serious dad, I'm gay!"

"No you're not! I don't believe it!"

"Dad," Dingo helped, "He is gay. He told me. I could sense his seriousness."

"What did Steele do to you!? WHAT DID HE DO TO CAUSE THIS!?" Balto roared.

Kodi got scared from his dad's yell. Although he never has to worry about his own dad hurting him, he was more scared of Balto than any other dog. Even if Kodi were to attack Balto however, Balto wouldn't touch Kodi.

"Dad, Steele didn't do anything! I've been gay! For a long time! Since I started running the mail. I've never changed. I should've told you a long time ago, but I was afraid you were going to turn your back on me and not see me as your son!"

Balto was very angered by this. Angered at Kodi, himself, and Dingo. Kodi is not only homosexual, but he never told his own father about the fact that he is! Then again, it could be his own fault for making Kodi scared. Kodi shouldn't be homosexual though! He was angered at Dingo for not telling him either.

"Both of you off my boat!" Balto ordered.

"Dad? I…"

"Zip it, Kodi! I need time to cool down! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!?"

Kodi got scared from Balto's yell. Tears fell from his eyes too. That did it. Balto turned his back on Kodi.

"Dingo, I'm mad at you too! You should've told me a long time ago!"

"I'm sorry dad! I promised…"

"I don't care what you promised! Get out of here!"

Dingo walked off the boat and got down to Aleu. Kodi stayed on the boat. Balto cleared his throat. Kodi faced his dad with red eyes and a face full of tears.

"I love you, dad!"

He ran aimlessly off the boat. Balto fell to the floor. What has he done!? His homophobia turned him against his own son! Seeing his son's face in sorrow like that caused from his own dad made his heart drown in its own blood. 'I love you, dad' rang and echoed through his head. Balto couldn't hold back the tears.

Kodi is his own son! He loves his son! He loves all of his kids! But Kodi was special in his own way. He was gay though! That's a sin! But…

Balto had a war inside his head. Kodi collapsed in the forest and Dingo and Aleu caught up to him.

"Are you ok, Kodi?"

"I knew dad would turn his back! He doesn't love me anymore!"

"Of course papa loves you, Kodi! He's just shocked by everything."

"He's a homophobic jerk! That's what he is!" Dingo yelled, "We're all struggling with problems and he just makes it worse!"

"Come on Dingo, don't go that far," Aleu said.

"We do have more problems to worry about," Kodi said sucking everything up, "Let's head into town!"


	16. In Waves

Kodi, Aleu, and Dingo headed into town. They now had to try to find Jenna. Hopefully she won't turn her back on Kodi.

"I ran into Zoltan when I was looking for you, Dingo. He called out to me, but I had to ignore him and run off. Can you do me a favor and get him for me?" Kodi asked.

"Yeah. Why did you ignore him?"

"You were the first I had to talk to! I need you! I knew you would understand and help me!"

Dingo nudged Kodi, "Unconditional love! You're my closest brother! I'm probably closer to you than any other dog!"

"Thank you! I love you, homo!"

"I love you too, doucher!"

Aleu was confused on why they randomly insulted each other. Dingo headed off to find Zoltan. Hopefully he could help the whole dilemma. If Dingo found Kendo too, that would be amazing. It just hit him that he probably needs Yukon more than both of them.

"Oh crap! Yukon needs to come too!" Kodi said.

"Howl for him!" Aleu said, "Wait, never mind! Everyone will know you're here! Just have Dingo get him when he comes back."

"I can't just keep sending Dingo into town! He wants to see me too!"

The waited there. Waiting for Dingo to come back with Zoltan, and hopefully Kendo and Yukon. They were also on watch for Steele. He should be here any minute! If they're lucky, something had delayed him. With luck back on, Kodi's side, Yukon arrived.

"Kodi! Oh my God!"

Yukon ran up to Kodi and nudged him. Yukon also had tears running down his face.

"Dingo told me you were back! I missed you, Kodi! Where did you two go!?" Yukon asked.

"We were enslaved by Steele!" Kodi said.

Yukon backed away from Kodi to get a good look at him and to assess what happened to him.

"You still look good! Except for the cuts and bruises."

"You look better than I do, Yukon."

"What do you mean Steele enslaved you, though? You and Aleu were having fun weren't you?"

Kodi pulled Yukon up to his face.

"Don't believe anything that faggot says! He lied to the entire town to make our lives hell! He fooled dad, however the hell that happened!"

"How the hell is Aleu pregnant!?"

"You know Star, Nikki, and Kaltag? They helped out! However they were blackmailed just like us!"

"What do you mean blackmailed?"

"6 months ago, Aleu and I were reunited! Steele saw us, and trapped us! He threatened to tell Nome that we mated if we don't become his slaves! He told Nome anyway!"

"Did Steele make Aleu pregnant?"

"Star, but…"

Dingo, Zoltan, and Kendo came from the town.

"I told them the truth," Dingo said.

"You guys believe us, right?" Kodi asked.

"We do, but no one else does," Kendo said.

Zoltan was fairly embarrassed, "So those puppies aren't yours?"

"No, they're not mine! I would never do that!" Kodi said.

"Should we head in?" Yukon asked.

"No, I'll head in with only Dingo by my side. Aleu and I can't go in together, and I can't go in alone, I'll probably get mugged!"

"I got your back," Dingo said, "The rest of you stay here until we come back hopefully in one piece."

"No, Aleu, go see mom! Kendo, Zoltan, and Yukon will protect you in case Steele tries to attack you."

"That's just another thing we have to worry about!" Aleu said, "If we're lucky, he won't be here until tomorrow!"

"God forbid he comes at all!" Dingo said.

Kodi and Dingo headed into town as the other three headed to talk to Jenna. Kodi hid behind cover to prevent being seen by countless humans and dogs roaming the streets. Kodi could be hidden from the humans by putting on one of his sister's collars. Probably Nunivat's. They look a lot alike, but there's no hiding from the other dogs.

"Who do you want to talk to first?" Dingo asked.

Kodi really had to talk to the dogs on his team. Now that Dingo is high up on the team, he can help Kodi at least get back on the team.

"I need to talk to Kirby, Dusty, and Ralph! I need to try to get them to talk to me!"

They were headed to the boiler room. Here it goes, making himself visible. Kodi had a lot of anxiety going. As soon as he made himself visible, he was bullied by dogs.

"Hey, how was it mating with your sister?" a dog asked.

"You're a freak, I couldn't live with myself!" another said.

Kodi had to ignore them. If he's lucky, this won't last long at all.

"Keep going, Kodi, do you remember where everything is?" Dingo asked.

"Of course I do! It's only been 6 months!"

"Alright, well, I'll just keep guard, then…"

"Oh, you're going to make with your brother now?" a dog asked, "Do you think incest is cool?"

"SHUT UP GARRETT! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Dingo yelled.

"You're helping him? Are you serious?"

"He's my brother! If you got a problem with it, you can fight me!"

"I would, but I have respect for you!"

Kodi just walked towards the boiler room. With out Dingo by his side, he was highly vulnerable. He made it to the boiler room without getting hurt. When he walked in, Kirby, Dusty, and Ralph jumped up and smothered him.

"Kodi! You're back!" Kirby said.

"We can't give you your job back though," Ralph said.

"Why?"

"Kodi…" Dusty said, "We know what happened between you and your sister. You were out in the woods having your puppies with her!"

Kodi's fuse was about to blow.

"I DIDN'T MATE WITH MY SISTER! STEELE LIED TO YOU GUYS! HE LIED TO MY DAD! HE…"

Ralph yelled right back, "THEN WHY IS YOUR SISTER PREGNANT!? EXPLAIN THAT!"

"When was the last time you saw Star, Nikki, and Kaltag? Steele blackmailed me and Aleu! He made Star, Nikki, and Kaltag help him enslave us and forced Star to get Aleu pregnant!"

"Do you expect us to believe that?" Kirby asked.

"Yeah! Come on! That's what happened I'm not lying to you!"

"Well you're better at mating with your sister than you are lying!" Dusty said.

The three sled dogs burst into laughter. Dingo came into the boiler room.

"Hey! How's the lead dog?" Kirby asked.

"Kodi isn't lying to you guys! Steele is the liar!"

The three sled dogs burst into laughter again.

"Dingo, he may be your brother, but you don't need to believe what he says!" Kirby said.

"He's my closest brother! I know him well! I know him better than any other dog! He wouldn't mate with his own sister!"

"That's what we all thought," Dusty said.

"Is there any way you guys can let me back on the team?" Kodi asked.

"We don't need someone who favors incest on our team!" Kirby said.

"Besides, we're full! Dingo earned his spot as lead dog! You can't replace him now!"

"Might as well tell you guys now," Kodi said, "I'm gay."

"We don't care," Kirby said, "As long as you don't try to mate with me."

Oh crap, Kodi thought. At least he doesn't know. Steele didn't tell him. Kodi really regrets what he did to Kirby in his sleep.

"Well, what if I just quit the team? Will you let Kodi on then?"

"Dingo, you're not dumb enough to quit the team! Even then, we wouldn't let the guy who got his sister pregnant on the team. But in the end, it's all Mr. Simpson's decision, and he won't let Dingo leave in the first place."

Kodi couldn't hold his tears back anymore.

"Kodi? Are you alright?" Dingo asked.

"What do you think!?"

"We can still be friends, but you can't be a sled dog!" Kirby said.

Kodi ran out of the boiler room. Dingo followed. Meanwhile, Aleu, Yukon, Zoltan, and Kendo were walking into Jenna's house.

"MAMA! I'M HOME!" Aleu yelled expecting her mother to run in and smother her.

Jenna didn't come into the room. They didn't hear her at all. Yukon sniffed the air.

"She's here. We would've waken her. Something's not right!" he said.

Aleu went to track her down. Rosy and her parents aren't here. She tracked Jenna down to the bathroom.

"Mom, are you in here?" Yukon asked.

The door was closed. Zoltan jumped up and turned the handle and pushed the door open. There Jenna was. In the bath tub full of water… face down… lifeless.

"Mama!" Aleu yelped.

"Jenna!" Kendo yelled

Immediately Aleu and Yukon pulled Jenna out of the bathtub she had just killed herself in. That's what a human does! Only humans drown themselves in the bathtub!

"Come on, mom! Don't die on us! Don't do this! Why!?" Yukon yelled.

If there's one important tactic Aleu learned in her back, it's to bang your head on a dog's stomach when their lungs are filled with water. That's what she did.

"Aleu! What's wrong with you!? Stop!"

Yukon, Kendo, and Zoltan tried to pull Aleu off.

"Get off me! Let me go! I know what I'm doing!" Aleu ordered.

Aleu pounded her head on Jenna's stomach even with the three males holding her back. She kept doing it. She didn't know how many times it was until the water was finally spit from Jenna's lungs. Was she alive? Was she even breathing?

Dingo had finally calmed Kodi down when three more dogs decided to come and give Kodi more crap.

"Hey, scumbag! Nice going getter your sister pregnant!" one said.

"You should be thrown in a dumpster and left to rot like the pile of trash you are!" another said.

"You're puppies aren't going to be allowed in Nome! We've all decided that! They'll end up just like your dad!" the last said.

"Get the hell out of here!" Dingo yelled.

"Don't defend him, Dingo! You know your brother shouldn't even be allowed in Nome!"

"We're here to drive him out!"

Dingo was about ready to kill these guys. The only reason he hasn't yet is because he has all the respect of Nome because he's the lead dog of the mail team. He doesn't need terror tactics if he has respect.

"GET OUT OF HERE! THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING!" Dingo roared.

"Hey, we're not bothering you! We're just here to take out Kodi, and he'll be out of here!"

Dingo really wishes he remembers these dog's names. But, here it goes. Dingo grabbed what seemed to be the leader by the throat and pulled him to the ground.

"I told you to get out here! You're lucky I'm not ruthless enough to kill you!"

The other two dogs backed away. Dingo has gone insane!

"I'm sorry! Let me go! Please!"

"Why should I? You better leave Kodi alone!"

"I can't promise you anything!"

"Then you'll just have to die!"

"Wait! Wait! I won't bother Kodi! I swear!"

Dingo let that dog go.

"Get out of here!"

They heard a howl from Aleu. That's usually not a good sign.

"Aleu needs help! Steele better not have attacked her!"

Dingo and Kodi took off in Aleu's direction. They soon realized they were at Jenna's house. So she's not in trouble.

"I gotta say hi to mom!" Kodi said.

He ran into the house and came into the bathroom. Immediately, he saw his lifeless mother on the floor.

"Mom! Oh God!"

He dropped at her body. This was the worst of all! But he can't cry! All his tears have been wasted on BS! This wasn't fair! This isn't right! He can't cry from his own mother's death! Steele took all of his tears! He might as well be dead! He jumped into the bathtub. He just doesn't care anymore! He intentionally inhaled water into his lungs and made sure he would die before everyone would pull him out.

He succeeded. Once Yukon had him out of water and back on the ground, he wasn't breathing.


	17. Alive or Just Breathing?

Aleu pounded her head onto Kodi's stomach to get all the water out of his lungs. It's only been a few seconds, so the chances of him still being alive are high.

"Damn it, Kodi! We don't need to lose you too!" Dingo yelled.

Once Aleu finally got a good hit in there, all the water in Kodi's lungs was spit out. Yukon was now pushing on Kodi's chest.

"27...28...29...30! Dingo, blow into his mouth!"

Dingo blew into Kodi's mouth twice. Kodi pushed him away.

"Quit kissing me, gay wad!"

Everyone was relieved but pissed off.

"Damn it, Kodi! What's wrong with you!?"

"I'm sorry! That was so selfish of me!"

Yukon swiped Kodi's face with his paw. Kodi fell onto his back.

"Suicide is illegal in this state! We won't tell anyone, but never do that again! I mean it!"

"I'm sorry Yukon!"

"Is anyone focused on Jenna?" Zoltan asked.

Jenna remained lifeless. Kodi took a bucket, pulled out water from the tub and splashed it on Jenna. She didn't get up. He did it again.

"Do CPR! It's never too late!"

Yukon starting pushing on Jenna's chest. Once to 30, Dingo blew into Jenna's mouth.

"Come on, mom!"

"Hey, Jenna, I need to talk t…"

Wrong time for Balto to walk in, but he did.

"Jenna!"

Balto shoved Yukon and Dingo out of the way.

"Jenna! No! Get up!"

Jenna's chest and stomach started moving.

"SHE'S ALIVE! MOM'S ALIVE!" Yukon yelled.

Everyone hugged each other in celebration.

"Alive or just breathing? If she's just breathing, she's not alive!" Balto snapped.

Everyone lost their good mood. Now they were anxiously waiting for Jenna to lift her head up.

"Jenna! Lift up your head! Keep ya head up!"

She didn't lift her head at all. Her chest stopped moving. She was gone. Balto lost his will to live! There it goes!

"Dad, I attempted suicide too. Just now," Kodi confessed.

Balto took his attention off of Jenna and gave Kodi and mean dirty look.

"What is wrong with you!? That is extremely selfish for you to do!"

"I know dad, I'm sorry!"

"Sorry isn't going to cut it this time! You're also gay! You're a faggot! Have you ever thought about how I would feel about you being gay!? You disappoint me, then you attempt suicide! Stop thinking about yourself!"

"Dad, you denied me because I'm gay! You couldn't…"

"Shut up, Kodi! I don't care anymore!"

Dingo was fed up watching his brother get bullied by his own dad while their mom was laying dead on the floor.

"STOP THINKING ABOUT YOURSELF, DAD! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S ONLY THINKING ABOUT YOURSELF!" Dingo roared.

"You dare talk to me like that!?" Balto demanded.

"You're sounding like Steele!" Aleu helped.

"I don't need you talking back too!"

"Dad! Do you want to know a big reason why Kodi attempted suicide!?" Yukon asked.

Balto's eyes met Kodi's. The flame was still in his eyes.

"You denied him! You turned your back on him after you found out he was gay! You're a big reason why he did! With his father not only not by his side, but against him really hurt him!" Dingo yelled.

Balto saw the hurt in Kodi's eyes. It was true! It was his fault! His son almost took his own life because of his father!

"Don't you see!? The fact mom is dead and he's getting bullied all throughout Nome pushed him to the edge! But you are what sparked it all!"

Balto dropped to the ground on top of Jenna. He's a rotten dog! What has he done!? He lead his son to try to kill himself! Kodi wasn't the one who's selfish! It's Balto! He laid his arms over his face to hide the sorrow he put on himself.

"I'm sorry, Kodi!"

"You better be!" Dingo said.

"Thanks for the support guys! You really hurt me, dad! I thought you didn't care about me anymore!"

"I remember seeing your face when you looked back at me after I ordered you off my boat… it killed me seeing you like that! Your eyes so red, your face so gloomy. I haven't seen you cry like that since you were a pup!"

"I learned to man up! Do you at least support me now?"

"I'm not proud of it, Kodi. But you know what? It's life! We deal with things! I swore to show my kids unconditional love! That's exactly what I didn't do! I'm sorry, Kodi!"

Kodi got up and nudged his dad.

"I love you, dad! As long as you love me still, I'll accept your apology!"

Balto nudged back. They heard a cough from Jenna immediately they all became focused on her. All their eyes on her. She continued to cough, then her eyes opened.

"Death isn't anything like I thought!" she said.

"Jenna!"

"Mom!"

They all piled up on top of her.

"Wait, am I alive?"

"You sure are, mama!" Aleu said.

"Aleu! You're here!"

Jenna put all her focus on Aleu.

"You're here! You're alive! You look better than ever!"

"I'm here! I sure am!"

"Oh God! I'm sorry for trying to kill myself! Kodi!"

Kodi nudged his mom.

"Hey mom!"

"Both of you are back!"

"We sure are!"

"Oh, why did you two mate? What will every dog think?"

Each dog took a look at each other.

"Mom, we didn't mate! Steele lied to you and dad!"

"Wait, so this whole thing was a lie? Steele didn't really find you guys?"

"Steele enslaved us. He lied to you from the start!"

"He what?"

"Well, well, if it isn't the horrid family of Balto!" Steele said coming from nowhere.

Oh hell no! They all thought as they looked back to see the black and white monster standing in the doorway.


	18. Arrogance and Ignorance

"What do you want, Steele!?" Balto demanded.

"I'm impressed on what your two devils pulled off. You knock out Kaltag and chew off the line you guys were on. Don't think I'm not angered!"

Jenna tried to get to her paws. Balto kept her on the floor.

"You won't get away with what you've done to them!" Jenna said as loud as she could.

She still wasn't able to fully function.

"I believe the town already knows the lie! Best case scenario for you two is to go back to that pack full of scumbags!" Steele taunted.

"Hey, they were good wolves! I loved my packmates!" Aleu snapped.

"We can take you out right now!" Kendo yelled, "You're all by yourself!"

"If you kill me, all of you will become outlaws! Besides, I can still run from you guys!"

Kendo lunged for Steele. Steele just knocked him down.

"You're not going to get away with what you've done to my family!" Balto yelled in Steele's face.

"And what are you going to do about it mutt!?" Steele challenged.

"I'm gonna give you a taste of your own medicine!"

"Just you try it!"

Steele headed out of the house.

"At this point, if try defending your son, let alone turning the town back against me, they'll turn on you, Bingo! I don't suggest doing it!"

He ran out of the house and headed back into Nome where he was now welcome. The dogs in the bathroom didn't know what to think.

"This can't be happening!" Kodi said.

Kodi dropped knowing things will never be the same again. Aleu laid right next to him and cried and comforted him. Dingo ran after Steele. Yukon was on stand-by to make sure Steele didn't try to kill him. It was no use to attack if they were going into the town.

"Hey, get back here, Steele!" Dingo called.

They were already close enough to the town to catch the attention of all the dogs, so violence wasn't a good idea.

"What do you want?" Steele asked.

"Stop harassing my brother! You're just as rotten as you used to be!"

Dingo got the attention of a few dogs around him.

"Your brother mated with your sister! Incest is a bad thing to do! Of course they'll be looked down upon!"

"THEY NEVER MATED! YOU ENSLAVED THEM!" Dingo roared.

That got every dog in range to focus on them.

"You don't know that for a fact! You believe the same brother that mated with his sister about me enslaving them! I may still hate your dad's guts, but I wouldn't make his kids pay the price!"

"Yes you would! That's what you did!"

"Dingo, I know what I saw, you don't! Stop arguing!"

Steele walked further away. There were a few dogs that came up to Dingo.

"Dingo, he may be your brother, but that doesn't mean you have to defend him. You have all of the town's respect, don't blow it," a dog said.

"Kodi didn't mate with Aleu! I'm telling you! I know my brother well, and he would not mate with her! If he did, he would take the blame and except exile!"

"How are you so sure?" another dog asked.

"Do you see that monster walking away!? He enslaved my brother and sister! He treated them like crap! They would be his slaves under the condition he wouldn't lie to Nome about them mating… WHICH THEY DIDN'T DO! But he lied to the town while they were enslaved, so there was no point!"

"And you know all this how?" a retired sled dog named Oliver asked.

"Oliver, you were a sled dog during the serum run! What did Steele do?"

"He lied to the town to keep his reputation. Everyone knows that!"

"Everyone hated my dad because he was part wolf! He was an outcast. But guess what? When Steele was out of his way, everyone discovered how truly honorable he was! They also saw how dishonorable Steele was! This is the same scenario! Steele is lying and being a dishonorable scumbag to make the lives of his enemy's pups hell! He making us take the price for our dad proving his honor!"

Oliver was piecing everything together. The other dogs around who weren't born until after the serum run had no idea what Dingo was talking about. They're so ignorant that they don't even want to believe Steele's lying to them. Just like everyone before the serum run!

_Oh Steele is smart!_ Dingo thought, _He knows the ignorance! He knows everyone from back in the serum run is either dead or old!_

Dingo ran back to Jenna's house to talk to Kodi. Well, everyone needs to know how to deal with this and what to expect. The ignorance is the biggest factor. When Dingo came into Jenna's house, Nunivat and Saba were nudging and greeting their found brother and sister.

"Dingo! Look who it is!" Saba exclaimed.

"I can't believe they're here!" Nunivat said.

"It's good to have them back!" Dingo said, "Maybe not so much Kodi though. I didn't miss him!"

"I'm really regretting coming back to you, Dingo!" Kodi said.

"You love me!"

"I love you too!"

Kodi nudged Aleu as well, "Sorry if you feel left out."

"I understand, Kodi! I was only here for the first year of my life! You made a big effect on this family and the town!"

"Guys, I need to talk to you! I figured out some tactics!" Dingo said.

He immediately got everyone's attention.

"Steele is extremely smart! He knows everyone from back in the serum run is dead or old!"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Balto asked.

"Dad, you know how you were disrespected by the town and you had to prove your honor with Steele's dishonor?"

"Yeah, what are you getting at?"

"Steele's arrogance caused ignorance throughout Nome! Am I right?"

"Yes! Dingo, what are you getting at!?"

"It's a new wave! A new generation of ignorant and clueless dogs who believe anything some liar tells them!"

"I hate to see the fellow dogs of my own town that way, but it's true!" Kodi said, "They're all ignorant! Because of one dog, I lost my dignity!"

"So if we can hit the soft spot, we can throw Steele right off the train he hi-jacked!" Dingo said.

They all looked at Dingo with shock.

"And that makes up for the lack of common sense," Kodi said.

Jenna still was out of it. She wasn't in the best condition after she technically died.

"So if we can say the right things, Steele will get drawn away again?" she asked.

"Exactly! They need to know the truth! We gotta say the right things to the right crowd! If Kodi is accepted back and I quit, he'll get his job back!" Dingo analyzed.

"Don't quit the team, Dingo! I want to run again, but you're more deserving of it than I am!" Kodi insisted.

"You want to run, I don't feel like running anymore! I don't get enough time with Matt!"

"You don't want the job?"

"I belong to a 10 year old boy! My job is to make him happy and give him love! Not to pull a sled! You're meant to lead that team! It's your job! Not mine!"

Kodi couldn't be happier to hear that. He can get his job back without Dingo missing it. Aleu thought of something. A problem. A big problem.

"Kodi and mama have the same fur line," Aleu said.

"Yeah, don't rub in the fact I've looked like a female most of my life," Kodi said.

"When the pups are born they can have that fur line!"

Balto realized what she was getting at.

"If mama has that fur line, I'm carrier of it! It could translate into my pups and they'll look like Kodi!"

"What's the big deal?" Saba asked, "They'll know you carried the traits over."

"The ignorance, Saba! You gotta remember that!"

"Unless they look a lot like me and Star, we're screwed! If just one looks like Kodi, we're screwed!"

Kodi's anxiety started going again, "We're screwed! This is bad! It's all bad!"

"Don't think that way Kodi!" Yukon said.

"I need to tell you all something!" Kodi said, "Two things… first… I'm gay. I've been reluctant to tell you all that. Especially dad, but he came back after turning away. Thanks dad."

"It was wrong of me to turn away! I'm sorry!"

Jenna gave Balto a bad look.

"Is that true!? You turned away from your own son for being gay!?"

"It was selfishness! It was also shock! I had enough crap going down, that piling on top of it all didn't help! You know I don't… well, didn't support gay rights.

Now, son, I do."

"Only Aleu knows this one," Kodi said.

It wasn't going to be easy telling his family that he mated with Steele. He mated with Steele! What a mistake that was! Kodi still can't believe he did it! God, that was stupid!

"I kind of… I mated with… um… I… uh…"

"Relax Kodi. Who did…"

The room filled with silence.

"You and Aleu did mate!" Balto said.

"No! No! It's not that! Ok, maybe it's not so serious."

Kodi cowered out of telling them that he mated with Steele.

"Sorry, I guess it's not so serious then. You know what? Dingo knows too. I mated with Kirby in his sleep."

The room now filled with laughter.

"Kodi! We don't care!" Yukon said.

"It's not a big deal at all! You worried us for nothing!" Balto said.

"Who cares!?" Saba said.

Kodi realized this wasn't as bad of a sin compared to what he's done and what he's being accused of.

"Isn't it wrong though? Isn't it technically rape?" Kodi asked.

"Hey, it wasn't against his will because he didn't know about it! Don't tell him and everything will be just fine! Why didn't you just do it while he was awake? He's bisexual anyway!"

"I didn't know that at the time! But, as long as he doesn't find out, my chances of mating with him for real are there! I hope I'll be able to!"

Now that they knew how to steal back the hi-jacked plane, they might as well start now. As long as the puppies don't end up with Kodi's fur line, it's their victory!


	19. Re-Interception

After two days of no sleep, Kodi was finally able to get a good rest. Aleu needed some sleep as well. Star, Nikki, and Kaltag finally made their way into Nome. They were under pressure as well. They were being blackmailed, and if Steele sees them helping Balto and his family, the town will know the truth on how they became Steele's friends.

That family needed their help! You know what? Who cares if the town knows about all that! The town will know the truth! Even if it takes their lives being hell! Kaltag howled to Kodi to trace him down. He got a reply from Balto. They headed that direction. Star was really anxious to meet up with Balto. He's bound to know he made Aleu pregnant by now.

The three met up with the family. Balto wasn't sure what to think of them. They didn't technically betray them.

"How are you guys doing?" Balto asked.

"Pretty good. I'm sorry about what your pups had to go through," Kaltag said.

"Yeah, it's life. They're alright, we just gotta get the ignorant dogs in the town to know the truth."

"We're here to help," Star offered.

"I would be mad at you, but you really had no choice."

"I'm sorry, Balto. I'll be a good father, though! I promise!"

"Aleu is mores of a father, dere," Nikki said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Star asked.

"Youse aren't much of a mans."

Aleu woke up to see Star in front of her.

"Hey Star!"

Aleu nudged Star. She was bigger than him in every way.

"I love you, Aleu!"

"I love you too, Star!"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but can we head into the town?" Kodi asked.

No one even knew Kodi was awake.

"If you would've made it obvious that you were awake, we would've headed out," Balto said.

They all headed out. Although it was them against Nome, they would still be able to bring everything into their control. The minute they walked into town, Kodi and Aleu got complete crap.

"Hey, how does it feel to be both siblings and mates?" a dog taunted.

"Incest is illegal! You're not welcome here!"

Dingo was already towards the breaking point, but he knew he had to hold himself back. They saw Mr. Simpson walking by. Kodi knew he had to get things straight with him. He started barking to get his attention. Because Kodi looked like his two sisters and mother, Mr. Simpson didn't see him at first. Kodi continued to bark, then Mr. Simpson realized it was Kodi.

"Kodi! Come here! Oh my God!"

Kodi sprinted to Mr. Simpson and jumped onto him. Mr. Simpson held him tight and hugged him.

"Oh my God! I can't believe you're back!"

Kodi licked Mr. Simpson's face.

"Never leave me again! Please! I love you, Kodi! I missed you!"

Mr. Simpson set Kodi on his back and rubbed his stomach. The dogs around them watched as the musher adored his sister-mating sled dog.

"I'm afraid you can't get your job back!"

Kodi looked at Mr. Simpson with a sorrowful face.

"Your brother took your place and has proved himself amazingly. I love you, though Kodi! You're still part of my family! Just not the team."

After a few minutes, and after the human and the dog were done having their moment, Mr. Simpson got up and went to do what he was trying to do.

"Mr. Simpson sure has a bad taste in dogs!" Yukon said.

Kodi and Dingo both jumped onto Yukon.

"You must be talking mad crap about your girl!"

Rumbling with his two brothers, Kodi was just asking for trouble, because the whole town already accused him of incest!

"With your brothers too!? Your sister is bad enough! Don't go and rape them!" a dog said.

Dingo snapped. He rapidly approached that group of dogs.

"Listen here! You idiots believed that bastard! Do you want to know truth about everything!?" Dingo yelled.

The 5 dogs in that group were startled by Dingo yelling at them. Balto assisted to make sure they got the point. He was more subtle though.

"Guys, quit bullying my son!"

"Balto? You approve of incest?"

"Listen to me!" Dingo yelled again, "Kodi and Aleu were enslaved! That's what they've been doing for the past 6 months! They weren't mating! They don't do that! They know it's not right!"

"Then who got Aleu pregnant?"

"See that dog right there?" Dingo pointed to Star.

"Hi," Star said.

"Steele wouldn't enslave them! He's not that kind of dog!"

Dingo gestured back to Kodi, _Ignorant as ignorance gets! _Balto jumped back in.

"You weren't alive at this time, I don't expect you to know this, but four years ago, there was something called a serum run! You know why I'm the hero of Nome!? I brought the medicine back to save the sick kids! Guess who abandoned the team!? Steele! Guess who lied so he could keep his great reputation!? Steele! Guess who intentionally got me lost so he could keep his reputation!? Crap, what's his name!? It was on the tip of my mind!" Balto yelled.

"Did it start with an S?" Dingo asked.

"Yeah, can you help?"

"Is it Steele?"

"That's it! Steele! Is all this measuring up!?"

The ignorance had been taken over by reasoning, and these 5 dogs finally knew the truth.

"Damn, sorry, Kodi!"

"With the reasoning we just gave you, can you help us tell the rest of Nome the truth?"

"Yeah! We're going to take Steele down!"

They finally made their way toward the center of town. At this rate, they should be done telling the town the truth by the end of the day. They hosted a large meeting where many dogs were at.

"Many of you having been fooled by a dog named Steele!" Balto yelled, "The rumors he told aren't true! Kodi and Aleu did not mate! Do you want to know what they were doing for the past six months?"

A roar of approval came from the dogs. Balto had the respect of every dog in Nome, so this'll be easy. He put his paw up to request silence, and all dogs obeyed.

"Kodi and Aleu have been enslaved by Steele! Kodi didn't get Aleu pregnant! Star did! However…"

There was a huge uproar from the dogs in Nome. Star was way too old for Aleu! They wanted to kill him now! Balto called for silence.

"Steele made Star get Aleu pregnant! He didn't do it by choice! So technically, he enslaved Star too! Along with Nikki and Kaltag!"

"Stop lying to your people, Balto!" Steele yelled.

Everyone's attention turned to Steele. Steele's lying skills couldn't fail him now! It was all or nothing!

"They're trying to put weight on me for something I did 4 years ago! I'm clean now, though! Sure, I wanted revenge on Balto, but I wouldn't make his kids take the blame!"

"That's exactly what you did!" Aleu yelled.

"Aleu, you came from a pack of wolves! You saved Kodi's life! If it weren't for you, he wouldn't be here!"

"What are you talking about?" Kodi asked.

"I saw that puddle of blood in the cave. I had both of your scents. And the scent of a bear. You had saved him! He still has the cuts and bruises from the bear attack!"

"Don't go lying like this! That pile of blood is from you beating me!" Kodi yelled.

The crowd let out a gasp.

"Kodi, you're trying to hide the fact you mated with your sister! Because she saved your life, you loved her unconditionally! You also wanted to pay her back! One thing you both wanted to do was mate and have puppies! Oh you must have tried so many times! Because she's just now 6 weeks! How many times did you guys have to mate!?"

"About 10," Star said.

_Star, what are you doing!? That's not helping me! _Steele thought.

Kodi wanted to tell everyone he and Steele mated, but that would put everything into a spin. If he told them Steele raped him, it wouldn't be any better than what Steele's doing right now.

Now the question was over the crowd. Star was the one that said 10, but Steele tried saying Kodi mated with his sister. Steele's story is believable.

"Let me tell you what happened!" Kodi said.

The crowd was neutral and silent.

"That puddle of my blood is real. That one's not made up! But I wasn't attacked by a bear! It was Steele! He beat me! Do these cuts look old!? They're too fresh to be from a bear attack 6 months ago!"

The crowd was about ready chase Steele away.


	20. Righteous Victory

To ensure victory, Star, Nikki, and Kaltag all joined in against Steele. He sure as hell didn't expect them to side with Balto.

"Steele enslaved Kodi and Aleu!" Kaltag shouted out.

"Hes blackmailed mes, Star, and Kaltag to help him enslave Kodi and Aleu, dere!" Nikki called out.

"I got Aleu pregnant!" Star confessed, "When the pups come out, they'll look like me and her! They won't look like Kodi one bit!"

_Watch it, Star! I'm a carrier of the red fur!_ Aleu thought.

"And to Star's defense, although he was forced to get me pregnant, he still didn't rape me!" Aleu shouted, "Because I love him!"

She pulled him in and kissed him. Shock ran all throughout the dogs. Why was this young female kissing and loving an old male?

"Hey! They're just mad because I terrorized their friends! I told them all about the incest!"

Someone threw a bone at Steele. It hit him right in the frame of the skull and bounced into Kodi's mouth. Kodi caught it and stood dominantly and gracefully! It was his victory! He wasn't the sick scumbag that mated with his sister! He's normal awesome Kodi. The crowd was going crazy and roaring. Kodi put up a hell of a fight.

The rest of the family joined Kodi in the celebration. The crowd of dogs were roaring as loud as they could. It was like the home football team won the playoff game to the Superbowl. Kodi and Aleu were lifted up by the rest of the family. Steele stood there as if he were the quarterback to throw the losing interception. Star, Nikki, and Kaltag confessed what they did before Steele could tell everyone. That'll piss him off.

"I got something to say!" Kaltag yelled.

The crowd silenced.

"In order to become Steele's right hand man 4 years ago, I had sex with him!"

Laughs came from the crowd.

"I'm dead serious! I'm not gay, but when you're desperate to rise up in the ranks on a sled team, a dog's gotta do what a dog's gotta do!"

"I did too!" Star confessed.

"I's plotted tos kill Balto before the serum run," Nikki admitted.

Steele couldn't believe it was all happening again! The dogs he blackmailed ended up confessing their secrets! There's one thing no one knows yet!

"Kirby, if you're out there, there's something you should know!"

Kodi froze as soon as he heard that. Steele was going to tell him! And in front of everyone!

"Guess what Kirby? I'm not lying when I tell you this! Kodi had sex with you in your sleep!"

Kodi stood there with a shocked and embarrassed face.

"Look at his face! He's embarrassed! He knows he did it!" Steele continued.

There were mixed expressions all throughout the crowd of dogs. There goes Kodi's chance! Steele took it away! Now all of the town knows as well!

"Look at Kodi's face! He's admitting he's wrong! He's not fighting it! Kodi is honest! If he's not lying about this, he's not lying about mating with his sister!" a dog said.

"Steele's the liar! Get him!" another yelled.

The dogs chased Steele away from the town and through the forest. Kirby didn't follow. Kodi didn't want to have to look at Kirby, it would be too awkward. He ran out before he got sight of Kirby. Dingo and Aleu followed him.

Steele had been chased far into the forest. By the time he realized the dogs had stopped chasing him, he was back at his old den. Back to the one he escaped to after the serum run. The one he had spent 3½ years in.

There was no redeeming himself this time. He only had a few years left in his life, and he wouldn't have time to let the heat die down and try again. He screwed himself this time. Revenge isn't the answer anymore… just death. Since he had already lost, he might as well tell Balto that he mated with and loved his son.

That was still going to be hard, but that's probably automatic death right there. A death wish is exactly what he has.

Meanwhile, Kodi, Dingo, and Aleu had joined the rest to party on Balto's boat. They won the war! It was their victory!

"There's the two martyrs!" Balto called.

"Hey dad! Congrats on beating Steele again!" Kodi said.

Dusty and Ralph joined the crew on the boat.

"Hey Kodi! You're a baller! You put up a real fight! So you really didn't mate with Aleu?" Ralph asked.

"No! I DO NOT see my sister that way! But the thing with Kirby is the truth. I did violate him in his sleep.

Everyone started laughing.

"That's actually pretty funny," Ralph said.

"Have you two mated yet?" Kodi asked.

Dusty and Ralph nudged each other.

"We sure have! We're expecting puppies soon!" Dusty said.

"Congratulations you two! I'm proud of you!"

"Thanks for your support, Kodi! I know you had a bit of an interest in Dusty as well," Ralph said.

"Hey, I'm looking for guys now, it doesn't matter to me! Hey, uh… how does Kirby feel?"

"He's not too happy. He doesn't seem to upset, but I don't think he likes you that way anymore," Dusty said.

"Damn it! Oh well. Is there any way I can get back on the team?"

"Not with Dingo around. He's permanently taken your place. Unless you can replace one of us," Ralph said.

Steele was crying and feeling bad. Not for himself for once. But for Kodi. He had beat Kodi! That puddle of dried blood came from Kodi because of Steele! After he had beaten Kodi, it was so bad he almost died from the wounds! He thought to when he mated with Kodi. He and Kodi were so happy throughout that month, the a switch in Steele's mind switched, and he started beating Kodi again.

Steele had started to realize he still loves Kodi. He ruined his chances though. Kodi would never go back to Steele after what he put him through. Steele then thought about why he was still trying to push getting revenge on Balto. Balto is a much better dog then Steele will ever be. Well, now was the time to tell Balto everything between him and Kodi

Kodi had headed to the boiler room to try to talk to Kirby. He wasn't sure how Kirby would react. Or if he would even talk to him. He knocked on a wall in the boiler room to make sure Kirby knew he was there.

"Hey, Kirby!" Kodi greeted.

"Hey. Come sit," Kirby said.

Kodi sat by Kirby.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you. It was wrong, I wasn't thinking, it was selfish."

"I can't say that I'm too mad. It's just… you kinda lost trust. I wish you would've told me earlier. Or at least have woken me up. I wouldn't have resisted then."

"I didn't think you went both ways."

"So you snuck it instead? And you didn't even tell me!"

"Yeah… I'm sorry."

"There's another thing I'm kind of mad about."

Kodi's attention went to Kirby. What else would he be mad about?

"What's that?"

"Kodi, you mated with Steele."

"What? How do you know?"

"I could sense it. I could still smell it. It was also the way you looked at him. You mated with your dad's enemy!"

"I'm sorry, Kirby!"

"It's non of my business. I don't really care."

Kodi still had to ask the question.

"Well, Kirby… I… are you willing to set all that stuff aside and still give it a chance? I still do have feelings for you."

Kirby wanted to, but he couldn't.

"I'm sorry, Kodi. I can't. After everything, I don't have those feelings. I don't fully trust you either. I'm sorry, but I can't."

Kodi's heart shattered.

"Alright, Kirby. I understand."

Kodi had to hold his tears back until he got outside of the boiler room. He then ran back to the boat and let all his tears fall. Steele came through the forest and saw Kodi running to the boat.

_Now is the best time,_ Steele thought, _I might as well tell Balto with Kodi there._

When Kodi ran onto the boat, everyone knew the outcome. It was obvious because of how much Kodi was crying. Right then, they heard a knock on the entrance of the boat. It was Steele. Balto jumped and growled at him.

"What are you doing here!?"

"Since I lost, I might as well tell you something I've been holding back."

Everyone's attention was on Steele.

"There was something I did that none of you know about that I did through the 6 months I had Kodi and Aleu enslaved."

Kodi realized Steele was going to tell them. He didn't have to! But Steele was going to get himself killed by telling them that!

"Balto, Jenna, Dingo… I beg for forgiveness."

"WHAT DID YOU DO!?" Balto yelled.

"I mated with your son. I love Kodi dearly! After I had mated with him, I was a new dog, but then a switch flipped again and I turned bad!"

"YOU DID WHAT TO MY SON!?"

Balto went to lunge and kill Steele. Steele was going to let him kill him. Kodi got in front of Steele to protect him. Balto stopped immediately. Everyone was in shock. Kodi mated with Steele? And he still loves him?

"What are you doing, Kodi!?" Balto asked.

"I can't let you hurt him!" Kodi nudged Steele, "I still love him! I'm sorry dad!"

"You're not going to be Steele's mate, Kodi!"

The rest of the dogs agreed on that. Balto pulled Kodi back and threw Boris' mop bucket at Steele.

"Get out of here! I don't want to see your face!" Balto yelled.

Steele ran away from Nome once more crying. Kodi loves him! But Balto won't allow it. That's alright. He would just terrorize them anyway. Kodi didn't want to get up. He didn't want to do anything.

"Hey, Kodi, wanna spend the night in the boiler room?" Dusty offered.

"Yeah, might as well. Thanks."

Kodi headed back to the boiler room to get some sleep. He left everyone at the boat in confusion.


End file.
